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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26937766">Recollection &amp; Reconnection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teimiko/pseuds/Teimiko'>Teimiko</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5, Persona Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Past unrequited (?) pegoryu, Rated mature for possible future chapters and my potty mouth, Violence, akeryu, ryugoro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:35:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,187</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26937766</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teimiko/pseuds/Teimiko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Phantom Thieves were his closest friends, the group gave someone like him a place to belong. Ryuji Sakamoto was an outcast everywhere else, and he wasn't ready to ruin his only friendships by asking meaningless questions.</p><p>He was hurting, and of course that just had to be the time when he came across an infamous, traitorous Detective Prince again.</p><p>*Starts just after escaping the 7th Palace.*</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro/Sakamoto Ryuji, Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>171</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chilly December air forcefully nipped at Ryuji's face until his skin that was bared to the environment felt numb. Not to mention the street light that uncomfortably pressed directly against his spine as he was slumped over on himself, weighing most of his battered body on the freezing metal post. Dozens of new bruises started to blossom over every square inch of his body, but at least the cold weather helped numb the pain; yet another physical reminder of his worth. He was already chock full of those damn marks.</p><p>In a time where he should've felt pride and excitement after defeating such a grand foe, he felt confusion, and frankly, a little bit of despair.</p><p>
  <em>What had he done wrong this time?</em>
</p><p>It was more of a rhetorical question at that point. Sure, he tried to diffuse the tension by telling Ann her crying face <em>so</em> wasn't cute, but she didn't take that lightly. If anything, that just provoked everyone even more. <em>He should've just felt flattered she even cared enough to cry. Great, now he feels like an asshole.</em></p><p>His leg still ached, the old injury flaring up with almost unbearable pain from sprinting through that last stretch of the Palace so much. Adrenaline rushing his body had temporarily halted his ability to register the pain he was causing to himself. The ringing in his ears from the explosions had yet to stop and they were extra sensitive to any sounds.</p><p>Ryuji had single-handedly saved the team. Without his effort to run and grab the lifeboat, the Phantom Thieves probably would've all died in that massive series of explosions on Shido's ship. He could still vividly remember the feeling of pure heat surrounding him, the flames consuming his entire body as he looked towards his teammates occupying the raft.</p><p>Unlike the blue fire that everyone became accustomed to whilst summoning their Persona, it was painful. <em>Really</em> painful. The Persona flames were almost like an added effect to make them look cooler, as they didn’t do any damage to their users or their enemies. The flames during the explosions were as real as it got in the cognitive world, and he could feel every single bit of it.</p><p>Extreme burns were <em>everywhere</em>, and even the debris sent flying through the air had either cut or completely impaled him. The largest was a stray piece of thick shrapnel that tore itself through his right side, just underneath his ribs. Agonizing, horrified screams went unheard under the sound of the ship collapsing all around him, and Ryuji was unable to think of anything other than the absolute pain coursing through his undeniably mortal body. The skin on his palms started to fucking <em>melt</em> onto the grip of the handle he was hanging on to, and he lost it.</p><p>He let go and plunged down into what seemed like oblivion; Think of just completely falling out of the world with no trace whatsoever. It felt like an eternity that he fell, but it was really all over in just a few seconds. While he could feel the impact of hitting the water’s surface, he woke up on cold concrete with nothing more than a few deep gashes and scratches from the hard landing.</p><p>It was a nothing short of a miracle that he got pushed out of the Metaverse. So...<em> why?</em> Why had the girls beat him up? Why had Ren just casually watched? They all said they were worried about him, but wouldn't he of been met with appreciation rather than anger? Ryuji accepted that he wasn't very smart, but this truly baffled him more than any physics test ever would.</p><p>The Phantom Thieves were his closest friends, the group gave someone like him a place to belong. Ryuji Sakamoto was an outcast everywhere else, and he wasn't ready to ruin his only friendships by asking meaningless questions. Meaningless questions only meant consequences. If a younger version of himself had asked anything of his drunkard dad in the wrong tone, it only meant escalating until brutal thrashings and hushed sobs rang out as he tried to hide in the closet or bathroom.</p><p>Speaking up, even against injustice, only meant more consequences. Kamoshida had been fed up enough with his unrelenting defiance to reach a breaking point, and that meant ruining all of his plans for the future. Ryuji wanted to get a track scholarship to make things easier on his now-single mother, but before that could come to fruition, Kamoshida broke his leg and ultimately disbanded the track team. The injury would probably never fully heal, especially without going into physical therapy, and he could never live up to his full potential again.</p><p>He was branded as the cause of the falling out, and deserving of the broken leg because of "self defense" and his own teammates' bitterness. The former members in track hated him for ruining what chances they had, too. Not only was <em>his</em> potential future lost in his outrage, but everyone else's. Track felt like his only redeeming quality, and it was brutally torn from his grasp along with the few friends he made with it.</p><p>Even though the group changed Kamoshida's twisted heart, his past actions couldn't be undone. Nothing can just be erased from reality like that. His leg was still dysfunctional, Ann's reputation as the school slut still needed fixing, and Shiho was still hospitalized and going through recovery.</p><p>Old wounds had been reopened when the girls were dishing it out, and there was no way to push them from his mind anymore. Everything kept locked in the recesses of even the darkest corners of his mind had broken free.</p><p>It was always his fault. The track team's disbandment, his broken leg, his very existence ruined the lives of his mom and dad. He caused so much turmoil between the two that it turned a decent man into a raging, abusive alcoholic. Everything was unbelievably beyond repair. So, as his Persona once said, why not wreak as much havoc as possible? He was already the track traitor and a screw-up at everything else.</p><p>Turns out, he was even able to screw-up when it came to being a part of the Phantom Thieves he adored so much. Despite being one of the original members, even standing alongside Ren since the very first time they both accidentally stumbled into Kamoshida's palace together, he wasn't needed anymore. The group had grown with new, more talented, more desirable people. Even when Ryuji went with them to the Metaverse, he was always sat on the sidelines. Who'd want a permanently injured hothead on their frontlines anyways when there were options like an extremely intelligent yet fiercely powerful martial artist whose Persona was a badass motorcycle? Or maybe a calm and calculated artistic boy who showed no hesitation in the face of fear with almost inhumanly swift movements and found beauty in nearly everything? He found the world ugly and unforgiving, spiteful beyond belief. His talents included running, something he couldn’t do anymore, and being shitty moral support. Seiten Taisei didn't even know any healing skills to make up for.</p><p>He knew it was really in the team's best interest that he remain backup, and he honestly respected their leader for having to make such decisions. That doesn't mean it didn't hurt, though. All of those painful feelings and memories flooded back in full force, and the raw emotions felt just as fresh as when they’d first shown up.</p><p>As he was lost in thought, there was a warm liquid running down Ryuji's nose and pooling just above his lip that felt too thick to be snot from sitting in the cold for so long. The feeling stood in stark contrast to the rest of his freezing body. He absently wiped his hand across his face and found his hand smeared with opaque crimson.</p><p><em>Blood, great</em>. That sucks, but at least his nose didn't feel broken. The dry weather certainly wasn’t helping his case. He found himself just staring bleakly at the red smudge, finding it more irritating than concerning. Everything was frustrating to an extremely upsetting extent.</p><p>Another trickle of something warm ran down his cheek, only for him to realize those were tears. He cringed.</p><p><em>When had he started crying? </em>Why<em> had he started crying?</em> He started to wipe those away too, even if they steadily kept coming. His jacket sleeves were becoming damp and uncomfortable as tears, and maybe some blood, soaked into the fabric.</p><p>Emotions shouldn't be getting to him so easily, he'd endured worse in the past. Everything was okay, he was fine. <em>He's fine.</em></p><p>The more he told himself that, the less reassuring it became. It wasn’t so much that he was dramatically breaking down, he just felt numb. Taken over by nothingness. Ryuji was completely silent as salty tears continued streaming down his face. He didn’t possess any control over his own body, he could only stand by as if the negative thoughts could be expelled through tears.</p><p>At least the tears finally stopped after a minute. He sniffed and curled in on himself even further, quietly trying to hide himself from the world. His bottom lip felt sore from unknowingly gnawing at it.</p><p>
  <em>He should stop being so pathetic for once in his goddamn life.</em>
</p><p>Ryuji stayed in that seated position for a while after his small outburst, not bothering to move because of his busted leg. Even after the burning ache from overexerting himself, Makoto landed a solid kick to the worst of it. Not purposefully of course, but she was strong as hell. His thigh might have a nasty bruise to show by tomorrow. At least it was late, so there weren't any pedestrians to judge what they would see as an injured delinquent for laying on the sidewalk outside of the diet building, probably hurt from some sort of gang fight.</p><p>Except one, there was one person he could hear approaching... That's embarrassing, but they shouldn't react to him much if they're at all sensible. Just ignore the punk kid in a tight heap on the ground and keep going. Or maybe it's a robber coming to steal his stuff while in a half-delusional state, or a police officer, or one of those two guys who kept creeping on him in Shinjuku and at the beach.</p><p>While he didn't really raise his head much, he raised his eyes to hazily see who it was out of curiosity when they reached the light. Both immediately froze upon eye contact, and all previous thoughts were replaced with the static of pure shock. Ryuji's wide, chocolate brown eyes met burgundy. The other boy reflexively winced.</p><p>"<em>What the hell</em>?! Dude, you... you're supposed to be <em>dead</em>! Aren't you dead?! <em>Holy shit!</em>" No filter on his words, as always.</p><p>But Ryuji heard the gunshots on the other side of the massive water-tight door, and even Futaba confirmed that Akechi's signal was gone. But that couldn't be right, not when the very same Goro Akechi was standing in front of him. <em>Maybe his head hit the pavement harder than he thought...</em></p><p>"Apparently not," Akechi sighed. His voice sounded normal, albeit with a tone of exhaustion and a hint of unhidden annoyance in his reply. He didn't bother to put on one of his typical bullshit TV expressions, but he had a sharp gaze nonetheless. Ryuji then shakily stood back up, partially relying on the lamppost for support. His brain was still fumbling at this point trying to make sense of the situation.</p><p>Just to confirm that he wasn't seeing things, he reached out and unceremoniously poked Akechi in the shoulder. He felt like a solid, functioning human. <em>Alive</em>. Akechi gave an annoyed glare, and Ryuji finally broke the deafening silence.</p><p>"How? How did you survive?"</p><p>Akechi took a second to gather his thoughts, seemingly contemplating what to share. After a few more tense moments of anticipation, he spoke.</p><p>"To be frank, I don't really know, so there's not a lot I could tell you even if I wanted to. A lot of what happened was a blur, adrenaline does that. It... really doesn't matter now, though. Just... please forget you saw me, nothing good would come out of sharing news of our meeting. As far as you should be concerned, I'm still dead. Good luck with everything, I'll be going now," Akechi gave a small wave and a half-assed polite smile, then he began to walk past Ryuji.</p><p>"Waitwaitwait, hold up! You can't just leave!" A bit stunned at the sudden request, Ryuji took a step forward to reach for Akechi's shoulder.</p><p><em>Ah, his injury, he forgot about that.</em> Right as he put weight on his bad leg, it spasmed violently and collapsed from underneath him. He yelped out a small curse, and almost knocked Akechi over. The taller one steadied himself in time to find a hand grasping the back of his shirt near the waist, the other tight on his shoulder. Akechi could only turn halfway because of the boy clinging to him, but scowled nonetheless when his attempts failed. Ryuji tried to regain his footing, but only to fall again and kept gripping onto the fabric of Akechi's shirt.</p><p>"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to fall," Ryuji said apologetically while he grimaced. Now that they were in close enough proximity, Akechi could see the fresh bruises forming along with his tear stained face. He turned and grasped Ryuji's hands, setting him down with surprising gentleness that didn't translate to the rest of his demeanor. His gaze lingered over a particularly nasty looking mark above Ryuji's cheekbone and knelt down to inspect further.</p><p>"You really shouldn't be fighting so late at night, the streets aren't that safe," Akechi spoke sternly.</p><p>"Ah, no man, it was just Shido. In the Metaverse, I mean. We stole that bastard's treasure for ya. This is nothin'," Ryuji gave a warm smile and a wink. Akechi took a moment to absorb that information.</p><p>"You... You really stole it? His palace is truly gone now?" A look of slight disbelief crossed over the detective's face, and he pressed for more answers. "Did he have a change of heart yet?"</p><p>"Nah, not that we could tell. We literally just got done. His ship is definitely gone though, freakin' thing almost killed me when it exploded," He let out a small chuckle that earned him an inquisitive glance from the other. "I guess that settles our deal then?"</p><p>"Huh?" Akechi frowned, then remembered theatrically asking the Phantom Thieves to change Shido's heart in his stead during their final moments together. "Oh, yes. I suppose it has... Thank you, for upholding your promise."</p><p>"O'course, the Phantom Thieves always keep their word," Ryuji added with another smile of pride. Akechi stared at him a bit with hesitation before continuing.</p><p>"...By the way, I've been meaning to ask you about this, but I didn't know how to bring it up," He pointed at one of the bruises, "Physical injuries gained in the Metaverse don't visibly translate to the real world. These weren't from fighting Shido. Did something happen?"</p><p>He set it up like an innocent question, but it was definitely an accusation of sorts. Shit. Quickly, Ryuji struggled to make up something believable.</p><p>"Well! Um... These are actually old. It was just a small scrap with some guys who wanted a fight from a while ago. Track team shit. And I ran into this pole like an idiot just now, so don't worry!" He unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, an obvious nervous habit that he happened to pick up. It didn't even occur to him that Akechi wouldn't even know anything about the beef between him and the track team at the time.</p><p>He looked up to find crimson eyes like daggers piercing into his own. Akechi definitely knew he was lying. There wasn't a very good reason to lie, but something just felt wrong about telling him what had truly happened. That would just give him all the more reason to hate the Phantom Thieves, and he didn't want to misconstrue the situation further.</p><p>"Really now? In case you don't remember, I was a detective. It's almost insulting for you to think I'm that dumb. I obviously know what old versus new bruises look like. Old ones would have more brown and yellow, these are pink and purple. I'm not even going to mention the blood," Akechi backed off a bit, realizing just how much closer he'd gotten while speaking. Then he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't see why you'd lie to me about this if it's something insignificant. Everything went as planned, yes? Nothing new happened within the palace to cause this?"</p><p>That was a kind of scary look. Even if his cases weren't solved honestly, Akechi's dead-serious interrogation face would easily make anyone susceptible to releasing a confession under these conditions. Ryuji glanced away for a split second in hesitation and guilt.</p><p>"Everythin' was fine. I promise dude, it had nothin' to do with the palace. I just worried the group when makin' our grand escape, so the girls were upset. Knocked some sense into me after bein' so reckless," He rested his elbow on a bent knee, head on his palm, and readjusted his position on the ground to get more comfortable. By now the nosebleed had subsided.</p><p>"You're kidding, the girls did that to you?"</p><p>"Hey man, girls like them shouldn't be taken lightly, you should know that by now. Makoto took aikido and Ann can do a mean backhand," There was a pause, then Ryuji added, "It's fine though, not like I haven't had worse. Also I totally deserved it for being a dumbass."</p><p>Akechi stared, perplexed. Clearly this wasn't what he had expected.</p><p>"That depends on how stupid your actions truly were. I may not know much about having teammates, but I don't think extreme violence is a normal occurrence."</p><p>"Trust me, my actions are always stupid," The right side of Ryuji's mouth tilted up, giving him an awkward smirk.</p><p>"Then let's hear about it, I've got time," Akechi countered while crossing his arms.</p><p>"Wait, huh? Didn't you just say you wanted to leave, and for me to forget about seein' you just a few minutes ago? What happened to that?"</p><p>"Oh? Well, if you don't want me here, then I suppose I'll leave as originally planned," Akechi stood and turned around, already knowing damn well he'd be stopped after the first couple of steps.</p><p>"No, wait! Sorry, don't leave, I just-" Ryuji groaned in frustration, and Akechi turned back to surprisingly find him on his feet. Well, one foot. The other didn't do much. "You can't just leave like that. If it means you'll stay, I'll tell you what happened since we... parted."</p><p>Akechi gave a satisfied smile, and spoke.</p><p>"Sounds like we have ourselves another deal. Although, I can't say you'll particularly enjoy my company."</p><p>"Ugh, don't phrase it like that. I'm so done with these damn 'deals'. Can't we at least go somewhere else to talk? It's cold as hell, and I don't want anyone overhearin' us. I mean, if you're okay with that, 'course," Ryuji shifted a bit on his feet. Despite nobody being around, he didn't like being out and about alone so late at night. The people weren't to be messed with, and going to Shinjuku with Ren showed him that he wasn't missing out on anything. Plus, anything concerning the Phantom Thieves should be confidential information... even if he typically disregarded being quiet about it in public. Akechi nodded.</p><p>"Good idea, it's nice to see you've become more cautious about this. I'm sure Shido's henchmen are actively looking to take me out anyways, so we shouldn't stay here too long."</p><p>"Take you out? To dinner? You should be flattered."</p><p>Akechi just shot him a hard glare again.</p><p>"...Aight then, just tryna lighten the mood. Where are we going?"</p><p>"I can't promise it'll be the most secure, but I recently moved apartments. They shouldn't have enough information to track it down, at least for now. Hopefully things will've blown over by then. Follow me," Akechi almost took a step, then stopped. "Oh, do you need any help getting around?"</p><p>"Nah, c'mon, I'm fine." Keep the pressure off of his bad leg, ignore the pain like always. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.</p><p>"FU-" Ryuji started, only to be cut off when he felt his fall suddenly halt. Akechi had him in a tight grip, and slung one of Ryuji's arms over his shoulder.</p><p>"I was wondering if you'd actually try that. Don't argue with me about this, I'm not letting go." Akechi said while tightening the grip on his wrist.</p><p>Ryuji frowned and mumbled something incoherently, but otherwise didn't respond. They started walking the first few steps much to his hesitation, but he was able to stand upright again thanks to the new support.</p><p>After more than a few stumbles and curses, they made it to the station platform in time for the train to pull up. It wasn't very crowded considering how late it was, which meant seats were readily available.</p><p>The two plopped down next to each other, and the sheer amount of exhaustion finally registered within Ryuji. A lot of exertion went into this last mission, more so than he ever thought he was capable of using. Not only was the final stretch a life or death situation, but the lives of his teammates were in his hands. A split second decision decided their fate. In this case, his inability to think worked out for the best, even if he had gotten his ass kicked afterwards. At least everyone was safe.</p><p><em>Everyone</em>, even Akechi. Not that he'd ever admit it, but seeing him alive again gave Ryuji one of the most relieved and unreasonably happy feelings that he'd ever experienced. Or maybe they both died and were in some sort of afterlife. Purgatory perhaps, for dying in the Metaverse without a chance to revive?</p><p>Before he could dwell on the progressively crazier possibilities any further, his eyelids soon grew heavy and fell shut as he mindlessly dozed off into a dreamless slumber.</p><p> </p><p>———</p><p> </p><p>The subway car rattled a teensy bit. Akechi watched him, mystified. Here Sakamoto was with the traitor who previously intended to kill their leader, who tried to murder them all using such drastic measures as to make his own heart go psychotic, who was the culprit behind the mental shutdowns, now leading him to an unknown area, but the boy just fell asleep on his shoulder like it was the most comfortable place in the world?</p><p>That begs another question entirely; why had he even decided to help him? The obnoxious blonde was a member of the group he had resented so much, even claiming himself to be Joker's right-hand man. He was an annoyance to Akechi whenever he had been around him for his infiltration, but ultimately had a huge heart of gold. What was really weird though was how the Phantom Thieves constantly vocalized all of his negative qualities, which never sat quite right within him. For "heroes of justice" they sure liked to unjustifiably hurt one of their own so much. It seems they've extended to physical torment as well, that's a shame.</p><p>Instead of his own friends being the ones to lend an ear to Sakamoto's issues, or offer a shoulder to cry on, they were the problem while abandoning him on the street, pummeled half to death for Akechi to unknowingly come across. <em>Akechi</em>, out of all people. Maybe that's why he decided to help...?</p><p>This whole thing was certainly an anomaly, and Akechi caught himself staring at the boy in question as if just looking held the answers. Unfortunately, it did not.</p><p>...He did look peaceful now, though. Sakamoto's sharp features gave way to an unusually soft expression while sleeping, and his demeanor completely changed. It was almost unsettling seeing him so quiet. So still, other than the rhythmic gentle rise in his chest while taking each breath.</p><p>Akechi decided to just let him rest for a short while, and allowed him to get cozy while pressed on his side.</p><p>Sakamoto was either very trusting, very tired, very stupid, or very desperate.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ryuji reluctantly opened his eyes to find Akechi gently nudging him awake.</p><p><em>“</em>Get up, we’re here.”</p><p><em>Right, they were still in the subway car.</em> He awkwardly stretched out his sore limbs in the cramped space and muffled a yawn behind his hoodie sleeve.</p><p>"Sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep," Ryuji said as he rubbed his eyes and felt the warm weight he was leaning against leave his side. He wanted it back, but blearily saw Akechi stand up and reach out to help him. Without even thinking about whose hand he was taking, Ryuji drearily grabbed it and slowly stood, taking care as to not hurt his leg. "So, where do we go from here?"</p><p>"It's not far, don't worry," The boys exited the subway train and stepped onto the platform. Ryuji was able to move by himself again, but still had a fairly noticeable limp. Akechi subtly remained closer than normal during the duration of the walk.</p><p>Silence overtook them the rest of the way, but it wasn’t the awkward type silence, more-so the mutual need of quietness during a time of inner turmoil.</p><p>Something about Akechi, previously an enemy, walking next to Ryuji in unspoken peace was strangely calming. He’d actually been a pretty good member of the Phantom Thieves, and despite Ryuji knowing his plans well in advance, it still hurt to see them come to life. He deeply cherished everyone on the team, even if he didn't say it outright. Akechi was included in that team for a while, and it was only an unconscious pull that made Ryuji want to care for him as he did everyone else, even as an imposter. He wanted to care for the guy and give him a chance at genuine friendship, hoping for some absurd reason beyond rationality that maybe Akechi would change his views on his current life.</p><p>That had only made him confused and frustrated. <em>Why should you care? He wants us all dead, you should be actively staying away as much as possible in these circumstances.</em></p><p>Not only that, but Akechi was seen as everything he could've been. Successful despite his hardships, extremely intelligent, praised for his hard work, unbothered about negative comments pointed towards him by the masses, and even extremely talented in the Metaverse. All Ryuji felt good for was fighting, and he didn't even compare in that category.</p><p>The only thing he couldn’t ever be jealous of was Akechi’s malicious intent. They might’ve been similar at one point in time, but the different environments they each grew up in had played a part in who they became. Absent and/or abusive dads, hard-working single mothers (even though he’s pretty sure Akechi’s mom was now dead), treated unjustly by an authority figure... There were quite a few things to have in common.</p><p>Even though he made his distaste clear, Akechi still treated him as a proper teammate while working as a double agent. Even if it was all an act, Ryuji couldn't help coming to care for the guy. Akechi was mislead and used for years at the expense of a very powerful man, and underneath that cold exterior of his, was undoubtedly still a heart. Hell, he was still a developing teenager in high school for fucks sake. He was still human, capable of making mistakes.</p><p>It made Ryuji realize just how human they all were, even Morgana. The good, the bad, the weird; each attribute was combined uniquely to make each person's individuality. Sometimes the results just happened to turn out better than others.</p><p>Before long, a large complex stood before them, filled with moderately sized apartments. It was in a relatively nice district, and it only occurred to Ryuji then that he was visiting another guy's apartment during the dark hours of the night. Usually you'd only see that happening for one specific reason... Hopefully nobody who might’ve seen them had gotten any weird implications.</p><p>"This is the place, come on," Akechi beckoned. After taking a short elevator ride and walking through a bland hallway, they arrived at a heavy wooden door. Akechi took his keys out, unlocked it, and they both went inside.</p><p>"Woaahh! Dude, this is a nice place," Ryuji gawked while standing in the entryway. The interior felt large, but that might've just been due to the lack of decoration. It definitely contrasted his own usual messy room filled to the brim with manga, video games, and other knick-knacks.</p><p>"It's really not much, but it'll do for now. I can't afford to get comfortable just yet. The compliment is appreciated, though." As Akechi was speaking, he took off his shoes and hung his coat over a hook in the foyer. "Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?"</p><p>Ryuji's nose scrunched up at the latter offer. The last time he tried coffee, it ended up on the table after practically choking on the bitter taste. It’d probably be best to not ruin his host’s countertops. "No thanks, I'm good. Not a huge fan of coffee. Also you can drop the formalities, y'know."</p><p>Akechi nodded.</p><p>"Right. Well, if you need anything just tell me. In the meantime, I'll go get some pain killers for you," At that, he opened a cabinet and retrieved a plastic container with some medical items in it. Ryuji threw off his own shoes and jacket, walking further into the living space.</p><p>It almost felt like a life-size diorama, with not a single thing out of order. It was as if even just moving a pillow would ruin the whole display. The lack of homeliness was a little eerie in a place so obviously meant to be lived in, but that should’ve been expected considering that Akechi presumably hadn’t been here for long.</p><p>"You can sit down, Sakamoto," Akechi came back with the container and a glass of water, setting both on the coffee table. Ryuji finally slumped down onto the couch, and allowed himself to relax. For once, he didn't quite know what to say, fatigue was really wearing him down. Akechi held out a pill bottle for Ryuji to grab.</p><p>"Look at the chart on the back of the bottle, it'll tell you how much to take depending on your weight."</p><p>"Thanks," Ryuji said while he took the small container and popped the lid off. Akechi left again, and he could hear a microwave running. He swallowed some pills, and drank the rest of the water while he was at it. Eventually, Akechi came back with some sort of small blob-looking thing.</p><p>"Here, put this on your leg. It's a heating pack," Akechi explained and tossed it his way. Ryuji almost got hit in the face, but caught it at the last second. The heat already felt heavenly in his hands. He didn't even realize how cold he was until then, but it must've been from sitting outside for so long... hopefully he wouldn't get sick.</p><p>"Again, thanks for helpin' me," Ryuji murmured. The warmth immediately soothed some of the more intense pain in his leg and Ryuji sighed in relief. "How 'bout you? Are you okay?"</p><p>"I'm fine, nothing happened to me outside of Shido's palace," He paused for a second. "Hey, you've got some more dried blood under your nose. It might've also stained your shirt. Don't get it all over my furniture."</p><p>Immediately Ryuji wiped his hand across his face, then looked down. "Shit, that sucks. At least this wasn't one of my nice shirts."</p><p>"Wait. You, Ryuji Sakamoto, have nice shirts?" Akechi asked quizzically.</p><p>"Can it, Detective Prince. I never even see you wearing casual clothes,” He shot back.</p><p>"Fair enough," He hummed. "You should wash those scratches, by the way. They broke skin, and dying of infection isn't fun to deal with."</p><p>"I know, I know. The worst are the gashes from hittin' the sidewalk too hard when getting blasted outta the Palace. The rest ain't bad... Girls and their damn nails though, they're like talons," Ryuji hissed. "I wonder if they gotta pick out their victim's flesh from underneath their nails every night."</p><p>"I can imagine it. Seriously though, I'm going to get something to clean those."</p><p>Sure enough, he came back with a small, damp hand-towel and placed it on the table while grabbing a bottle of disinfectant from the basket.</p><p>"It's just the few on your arms, palms, and face, correct?"</p><p>"I can do it myself, y'know."</p><p>"I know," Akechi responded curtly while removing his gloves, rolling up his dress shirt sleeves, and kneeling down. He started cleaning one of the scrapes, and Ryuji flinched back immediately with a hiss of pain through clenched teeth.</p><p>"That stings," he groaned.</p><p>"That means it's working, give me your face back.” After Ryuji did so, Akechi continued his work. His hands were rough, but his movements were gentle. "So, are you going to tell me the full story? Truthfully, of course."</p><p>Now that they were in a secure area, he was able to question more thoroughly. Not to mention the vulnerable position of being so close together. <em>Clever.</em></p><p>Ryuji stared blankly for a second. Yeah, there was no avoiding it. Despite desperately wanting to hear a more detailed version of Akechi's side first, he explained what had happened after the shutter door closed.</p><p>It was relieving, being able to discuss the events without being told to shut up in one way or another. Some of the pent up pressure finally released from his chest as the other boy just sat and listened patiently, carefully dabbing at his skin and applying bandages when necessary.</p><p>"Sooo... I have a stupid question," Ryuji started.</p><p>"Shoot."</p><p>"Why would Shido be lookin' for ya? Didn't you guys work together?" Ryuji asked. Akechi stopped briefly and brushed a stray hair out of his face.</p><p>"Of course we were affiliated, but since Shido's had a change of heart, that means I've failed my duties. He may of changed, but his subordinates haven't. They must sever any loose ends. Especially so since I played such an important role, and he even knew I was planning to double-cross him. That's why I already had all of this set up in advance."</p><p>"But if he's had the change, why would they still come after you? He should expose himself, so you wouldn't need to do that. You wouldn't be prioritized, right?"</p><p>"It's not just about that, they need to hide everything they can preceding the trial. I simply know too much to remain living at the moment. Not to mention other... inevitable consequences for committing his crimes.”</p><p>Akechi looked mildly upset, and the regret shown was of genuine guilt, that much was obvious. This was something new, something Ryuji hadn’t seen displayed within him before. It wasn’t necessarily unwelcome for him to show remorse, just foreign.</p><p>"Listen, we... we really didn't want to leave you behind. After the gunshots, Futaba completely lost your signal. It was real scary, man. We had no control over the situation whatsoever, we couldn't protect you."</p><p>"...And why would you of wanted to protect me? I take it I don't have to remind you of my previous actions." Akechi's response was bitter and almost accusatory, like it was a terrible offense to care about his well being.</p><p>"Because, dude! I already told ya back in the Palace, you're <em>more</em> than special. And I, you, I mean- ugh,” Ryuji stopped himself in an attempt to have better control of his thoughts, he wasn’t the best at talking through things like this without getting worked up. “While I can't entirely remove the blame, what happened <em>wasn't</em> your fault. You were controlled by a shitty adult who took advantage of the power he had over you. That kind of sick shit is what we fight against, and... you deserve better than that. Y'know?"</p><p>"Not really. You're much too caring for your own good, Sakamoto. Especially towards those who've hurt you," Akechi said. Under his breath, he added, "That includes those so-called teammates of yours."</p><p><em>That</em> got his attention.</p><p>"The hell? Whaddya mean by that?" Ryuji's eyebrows furrowed.</p><p>"You know exactly what I mean," Akechi said coolly, his grip on Ryuji's arm tightening. The blonde winced at the pressure increase on one of his open wounds. Their eyes locked, and Akechi's narrowed.</p><p>"That's- that's different! They didn't mean to do it, I'm fine. It wasn't anythin' serious. They were just upset, and honestly, I could kick your ass right now just from how much you made me worry, so I understand the feeling."</p><p>"Except you weren't a former threat to them. If anything, you're supposed to be Amamiya's best friend. You saved their lives, so they used you as a punching bag. Makes sense," his voice was dripping with sarcasm and hostility. Before Ryuji could even think to form a coherent response, Akechi kept going. His tone was a bit softer, but it didn't lack any of the previous authority. "They shouldn't of done that. Sure, an emotional outlet is healthy, but that... this," He caressed some scratches and bruises, "isn't normal. Stop trying to defend them because 'they're your friends'. That's a bullshit excuse and we both know it."</p><p>"You're wrong," Ryuji tried to say with conviction, but he wasn't entirely sure of himself anymore. The quietness of his voice along with a slight shake was evident enough of that. He loved the Phantom Thieves more than anything, but that constant hint of self-doubt kept burrowing itself deeper into his subconscious.</p><p>"You say that, but you don't believe it, do you?" Akechi's hardened glare saw right through him.</p><p>"Y-You're wrong, you don't know shit!" Damn that crack in his voice.</p><p>Ryuji's hands clenched tightly, blunt fingernails digging into his palms. He finally looked away in defeat, shame flooding his body. He didn't want to face it, didn't want the harsh reality told to him so directly. Angry tears were forming, much to his embarrassment. Akechi wasn’t even speaking anymore.</p><p>"S-So what?! I thought... I thought out of everyone else in my life, they were the ones who <em>finally gave a shit about me</em>," Ryuji's voice became weaker and weaker with every word. "I found a place where I belonged, where I felt happy. Just like how it was with track. Except I always ruin it. I-If they want to get their frustrations out on me, then that's what I'll do. That's what I'm useful for. Not like I can do much else, they wouldn't keep me around otherwise."</p><p>Finally, the tears flowed free. Ryuji hastily tried to wipe them away to save whatever remained of his dignity, but to no avail. Akechi silently finished putting a band-aid on him, then grabbed his hands to delicately lead them both onto the floor.</p><p>He wrapped the younger boy into a tight hug, catching him off guard. Ryuji remained tense, took a shaky breath, and then completely broke down, burrowing into Akechi's shoulder as he cried out in deep, shuddering sobs. Instead of feeling numb and silent despair like last time, he was overwhelmed and loud with anguish. Everything he held bottled up was spilling over. He felt so fragile, so vulnerable as he wept. His last little pieces of composure shattered, and the emotions he withheld for who knows how long were finally released.</p><p>They were both broken in different ways, but the connection was comforting. Akechi's embrace was warm and welcoming, it was his lifeline while being in such a sorry state. It was his way of staying grounded, and he didn't dare move in fear of losing that grip on reality.</p><p>He felt fingers running through his unkempt hair to pet him, and Ryuji leaned into the touch all the while still crying into the boy’s chest. Sure, it was humiliating to expose himself so much, but he was past the point of no return. Past the point of caring. It’d been so long since he had contact with anyone, excluding getting hit or beat up.</p><p>They stayed like that for what felt like hours, and Ryuji gradually quieted. Eventually, his meltdown was reduced to small sniffles and occasional hiccups. Akechi took a moment to look at the clock, but didn't actively make any move to let go.</p><p>"...The subway trains have stopped running. Are you okay with staying here for tonight? I promise I won’t do anything."</p><p>"Yeah," His voice was worn out and rough, punctuated by a hiccup. "I'm... really sorry, I didn't mean for anythin' like this to happen."</p><p>”I know.”</p><p>Gently, they let go of each other and pulled apart. Ryuji took the time to rub at his face, trying to dry any remnants of the tears. There was an obvious wet spot on Akechi's shirt where his face previously lain. He avoided making eye contact out of embarrassment.</p><p>"You don't need to apologize. I wouldn't of helped if I didn't want to."</p><p>Ryuji cracked a weary smile and let out a small chuckle. "Man, I know plenty of girls would kill to be in my shoes right now."</p><p>"Kill, huh? I wonder how many would stay after knowing I’ve actually done just that," Akechi lightly smiled back at him.</p><p>Ryuji gently bopped him on the head. "Awww, but he's so handsome and smart! <em>My</em> Akechi could <em>never</em> do something like that!" He said in a mockingly high-pitched voice.</p><p>"The worst part is that's probably an accurate depiction of how most would respond," Akechi said while cautiously standing. Sitting down for such an extended amount of time made his legs cramp up. Ryuji wasn't doing much better with that, so he instead stretched on the floor below. Best not to strain his bad leg any more after an already rough night. "I'll get you some clean clothes to sleep in, we can wash yours tomorrow. You can stay on the couch."</p><p>Ryuji nodded and stifled a yawn. The brunette came back with a pair of gray sweatpants and a t-shirt with some random company's name printed on the front.</p><p>"These clothes should fit since we're around the same size," He pointed towards a door to his left. "The bathroom's right here, my room's next to it. Call me if you need anything."</p><p>"Yeah, okay," Ryuji smiled sheepishly. "And, um, thanks... you've been really helpful. Like, you don’t even know just how much. I'll definitely have to make it up to you sometime."</p><p>"I'll hold you to that. Goodnight, Sakamoto."</p><p>With that, Akechi retreated to his own room and Ryuji left to change. His phone nearly clattered to the floor when taking his pants off, but was thankfully caught in time. The only new notifications were from the Phantom Thieves group chat and a mobile game that may or may not be Animal Crossing related.</p><p>He quickly finished getting dressed, and felt quite comfortable. The clothes were only a little bigger than his own, since Akechi was a couple of inches taller, and the sweatpants were made of some really soft material. Ryuji exited the bathroom and found that the sofa now held a pillow and blanket.</p><p>As much as he wanted to skim over what everyone had been discussing without him in the group chat, the thought of finally sleeping overpowered any other ideas. He at least had to tell his mom where he was, so he sent her a quick text saying he was at a friends' house to stay the night. His mom worked late shifts tonight anyways, but he didn't want her to be concerned, just in case.</p><p>The phone screen went dark as he turned it off, and Ryuji immediately collapsed on the couch. He pulled the blanket over himself tightly, and drifted off soon after.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Turns out “brunette” is mostly used for females and “brunet” is mostly used for males, but I shall pretend I never gained that information.<br/>Morgana would be proud that I’ve somehow ended 2 chapters with going to sleep. Now go to bed, I see you reading this when you’re meant to be maintaining a healthy sleeping schedule. Sleep now.</p><p>Headcanon that Ryuji plays Pocket Camp. Thank you and goodnight.</p><p>🅰️ngst haha.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first incident that truly stood out was the time Ryuji and Ren went to Shinjuku together. Morgana had been there as well, although he walked off and did his own thing most of the time. Ryuji tended to forget he was even present if he hadn’t spoken up for a while. Perks of being a cat... in physical form, at least.</p><p>As of now, Ryuji watched as the fearless leader of the Phantom Thieves entered Crossroads with an air of confidence, which left him to wait until his business with the alcoholic journalist was concluded. Their hopes for coming here was to gain information, specifically a name, about the lead yakuza targeting teenagers. He would've preferred some sense of security with Ren beside him, but it wasn't practical at the moment for their mission.</p><p>Nonetheless, being alone in such a packed, adult-oriented area was disconcerting. Despite already being an outcast among his own peers, the sensation of unfamiliarity multiplied tenfold while in the Red Light District. Not to mention the overbearing smell of cheap perfumes, alcohol, and smoke from cigarettes being lit. It was nauseating.</p><p>Crossroads sat between two larger buildings on a busy street, its door located further back than the surrounding entrances. Ryuji found a large enough corner beside the bar to huddle in while waiting, checking his surroundings every couple of seconds.</p><p>Eventually Ren came back out of the bar, and Ryuji immediately ducked out of his darkened corner to rejoin the boy with great relief. This place started to remind him too much of someone he once knew, and bad memories were starting to resurface because of the familiar sights and smells. He’d even instinctively flinched when his friend had simply opened the door to exit. Ren was quick to report that he apparently got a name out of the journalist.</p><p>Junya Kaneshiro. Supposedly, he was the guy in charge of the whole targeting-high-schoolers operation. The information that the woman, Ichiko Ohya, had provided was a crucial clue if she was right.</p><p>Ryuji grinned. The mission was an outstanding success; Turns out it was well worth coming here despite the large amounts of discomfort. The only thing left to do was hope that the MetaNav confirms their new suspect, and the Phantom Thieves will finally be able to strike again.</p><p>
  <em>That asshole's gonna get what's comin' to him now that he's in our sights.</em>
</p><p>A black and white cat with vibrant blue eyes made his presence known again by popping his head out of the shoulder bag, and Morgana hopped right into discussion. They were comfortably returning back to the station, but before the three could make it out of the bustling streets, a couple of guys were able to approach. Both looked to be somewhere in the middle-aged category, but were as giddy as teenage girls. The clothes they wore were... eccentric...? Definitely eye-catching, so to say, and their faces were covered in a thin layer of gaudy makeup. They looked a little strange, but Ryuji himself was no fashion expert either.</p><p>Morgana must've somehow sensed the impending danger, because he retreated completely to the confines of the bag.</p><p>The two men had immediately started fawning over Ryuji, practically drowning him in compliments with no subtlety or shame whatsoever. The self-proclaimed "Shinjuku Creatures" had their ulterior motives made clear once the guys were persistently asking him to try drag and forcefully commenting about "adult life" activities. Seriously, he didn't have an issue with guys who were into that sort of scene, but he never wanted to participate himself.</p><p>It was extremely awkward trying to refuse since the guys just wouldn't take no for an answer. They were also getting kinda touchy, and kept talking suggestively all the while prodding at his body. He tried his best to keep a steady mind, but their advances were really starting to make him uncomfortable.</p><p>Why <em>him</em>, though? Not that he would ever want to force this onto his best friend, but Ren was undeniably prettier to look at. Not necessarily in a more feminine way, but he was sleek, elegant, polite, handsome, and all around captivating. Even if he wasn't attracted to the guy personally, he could easily recognize why people would be. Not even his "delinquent criminal" reputation at school kept the girls from dreamily staring at him.</p><p>It’s... not gay to admire him from a neutral standpoint, right? Even if he found himself yearning for Ren’s attention more and more frequently lately, it was just because they were close friends. Yeah.</p><p>Ryuji himself was much more rough around the edges. Shitty bleach-blonde hair, busted leg, irrational, vulgar, stupid, hot-headed, the list could go on and on. Just ask Morgana and he'll dish it all out. In a way, that simultaneously made him feel all the more lucky that Ren was his best friend, but also that he wasn't good enough for him. Although, most of the time he was able to recognize his value with occasional little reassurances from the group; Even if the rest of the team liked to tease him, it was all just friendly banter. They cared about him.</p><p>At least, that was his assumption. But then a seed of doubt was ever so carefully planted.</p><p>While the strange men were still rambling and touching, Ryuji was actively pushing them away and looking to Ren for help.</p><p>"Dude, <em>help</em>! You can hear me, can't you?" He shouted. Only, Ren just stood there to observe. His silvery dark eyes revealed nothing behind those damn fake glasses glint under the bright city lights.</p><p>Morgana popped his head out of the bag to talk with Ren again, and to seemingly assess the situation at hand. He then said something to him that Ryuji couldn't quite hear over the sound of the city plus the men directly talking to him, but he had more pressing issues to worry about. Ren glanced at his phone, interrupted by a notification, and nodded in response to the cat.</p><p>
  <em>He'd help. He'll definitely help, he must've heard Ryuji's pleas.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>C'mon, Ren-Ren.</em>
</p><p>His faith was tragically misplaced. What Ren said next was disturbingly clear through the crowd, although the words didn't register right away.</p><p>"Knock ‘em dead, Ryuji."</p><p>To his utter horror, Ren turned around and started to <em>walk away</em>. Ryuji's mind went blank and his body froze, mostly from confusion and shock.</p><p><em>He was coming back, right? Maybe he left to get backup?</em> But his best friend kept walking nonchalantly further and further into the crowd nearing the station. The damn cat took one last look over his shoulder, and his paw waved a goodbye to him. That snapped him out of his trance. He started shouting then, incoherent rambling and begging for him to come back.</p><p>He faintly heard the two men still talking to him, faintly felt the hands that groped him, but he was completely zeroed in on how Akira's mess of black hair disappeared from his line of sight completely.</p><p>The men saw their opportunity, and fucking pounced on him like wild animals. That was when he started panicking. His stillness changed to shaking, and he struggled to tug away from them. Nothing the men were saying was registering as fear set in. He was a lone high school student stuck in an vastly adult district with drunk people and perverts aplenty. This was the prime setup for those types of stories he saw on the news about missing teenagers. They started to try and manhandle him to god knows where, but Ryuji forcefully yanked away and started running. He tripped a few times and kept bumping into pedestrians, getting sworn out as he passed, but he didn't stop.</p><p>Once he did reach a quiet secluded area, confident that nobody was able to follow him, he immediately collapsed into a heap on the ground. His lungs were burning, his bad leg was in agony, and he was almost violently shaking. Sounds of his desperate panting filled the night air, his stomach lurched from stopping so suddenly, and he had to turn over and vomit into a nearby garbage bin.</p><p>As a former track star, he should've known better than to just stop after hard sprinting without so much as a warm-down, but his brain was still lagging behind on processing everything. More heaving later, and his stomach was emptied. It was gross. He felt gross.</p><p>The shock started to settle in as the adrenaline wore off. Ryuji found himself not too far from a subway station, and luckily the trains were still making their rounds for the night. The place was foreign, and he probably could've stopped running sooner, but this was nothing that good ol' Google Maps couldn't handle. Nothing felt more appealing than just going straight home and burying himself in his futon under piles and piles of blankets. Even if it's embarrassingly childish, something about blankets made them feel like protective barriers from the outside world.</p><p>The will to get the hell home was strong enough for Ryuji to stand up and start moving despite the lingering pain. He wiped away leftover bile that clung onto his lip, and ignored his still burning throat. His chest ached from overexertion, but he kept going. No stops until he got home, until he felt safe.</p><p>The subway train arrived, and a fair few people boarded. Most were those who went out partying and bar hopping, sufficiently intoxicated, and returning to their own home. He probably looked like shit, but fortunately, trash in a trash can doesn't stand out. It was then that he decided to pull out his phone. Ryuji turned it on, and the illuminated screen displayed... nothing. He frowned. No new text messages, no new missed calls.</p><p>He felt a twinge of disappointment, hoping for something, <em>anything</em>, to explain why Ren left him to get potentially sexually assaulted by two grown ass men late at night in the Red Light District. Even a check-up or an apology would suffice at this point, he just needed <em>something</em> to go off of.</p><p>Then came a horrid thought, one he guiltily shoved away immediately after thinking it.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe... Maybe Ren just didn't care...?</em>
</p><p>No, no no no no no no. That's dumb, of course he cares. He's the leader. He's probably caught up somewhere and can't check up. <em>Maybe there was an emergency?</em> You never know the circumstances. <em>Maybe he had confidence that Ryuji could fend them off by himself?</em> But Ryuji was begging for help. <em>Maybe it's because Ryuji was the one who got them caught by Miss Council President in the first place?</em> That would certainly be sufficient payback for exposing themselves and getting blackmailed as a result. In fact, their whole reason for being there was because of Ryuji's persistent shouting at school while being surrounded by fellow students. Although, this kind of thing didn't seem like something Ren would do just to teach a lesson about shutting his big mouth.</p><p>Maybe he didn't know his friend as well as he thought he did. What the hell was even going on anymore? What <em>did</em> he know?</p><p>When Ryuji was about to be executed in Kamoshida's dungeon, Ren not only saved his life, but he did so by awakening to his Persona solely to protect the vulgar loudmouthed stranger who helped him walk to school that morning. Scratch that, they didn't even walk to school. He unknowingly helped Ren accidentally walk in between realities because of his specific choice of words around his phone and almost got themselves killed. Not the best first impression.</p><p>They saved each other's asses countless times, sticking together through it all. Ren was Ryuji's best friend. He'd always been so selfless before, so what's with these conflicting behaviors towards him now?</p><p>———</p><p>As time went on, the seed of doubt was not only still lodged in the back of his mind, but it was cultivated and thoroughly maintained to grow into something more. Still, he ignored it. <em>It'll die eventually, right?</em></p><p>In the meantime, he had to deal with petty drama in the team. With who? It should be pretty obvious, shouldn’t it? Morgana, the cat that proclaims he isn’t actually a cat.</p><p>If anything, Morgana's true form had to be a demon of some kind, he could be such a hell spawn. Not to mention how angelic he seemed to the other Phantom Thieves, completely blinding them to his jackass behavior. After all, his teasing is all in good fun, right? His insults are meant to be lighthearted, just banter between friendly rivals.</p><p><em>Why were they even rivals in the first place?</em> It’s not like Ryuji ever went out of his way to be a dick when first encountering the strange being in another one of Kamoshida’s cells. Even if Ren had treated him with the same amount of suspicion, Ryuji was the one to receive nasty words.</p><p>Although, now that he thinks about it, Mona probably saw him as an easier target. Ren had just awakened to Arsene’s powers, and Ryuji was just following him around like a lost puppy. That must’ve done wonders for Mona’s superiority complex.</p><p>The worst part is, Morgana somehow <em>knows</em> all of Ryuji's sore spots. He knows just what to say and when to say it to critically hit him where he's weak. He knows what he'll get a reaction out of, and the monster cat acts on any opportunity he gets to do so. And it's constant. It's always a steady flow of insults, snide remarks, or backhanded compliments from times when the team could be having a casual conversation to hyping each other up in intense battles.</p><p>It was exhausting to deal with. Not only that, but it really started to rub off on everyone else as time went on. They actively started using him as a tool for cracking jokes, or even just stating the obvious as a means to make conversation. Makoto was always mentioning how stupid he was, Futaba picking at his looks and inability to ever find love, Ann sometimes finding him disgustingly boyish, Yusuke noting his lack of grace, etc. (Although with Yusuke, he didn’t take it too personally. That was just how Yusuke was, he looked at everything from an artist’s perspective and was raised without much social interaction. There wasn’t any malicious intent behind his words, and they both went out to get beef bowls or ramen from time to time.)</p><p>But it was fine. It's not like Ryuji was explicitly aware of how worthless and pathetic he was in the previous years by Kamoshida, pretty much the entire school staff and student body, and even by the memories of his dad.</p><p>When he finally had enough and fought back, Morgana fled while throwing a massive pity party. He left with his tail, both figuratively and literally, between his legs. What Ryuji said wasn't even super deep or hurtful, it was actually the same style of banter always aimed at him. He complimented how helpful Futaba was while at the tail-end of her Palace, and nudged the cat by calling him useless compared to her. It wasn't even that bad of a jab, but everything always had to turn into an out of control argument with him.</p><p>It might've been insensitive, but Mona always acted so confident in himself while striking the blonde down. That front was clearly masking his uncertainty and insecurity of his identity, but Ryuji was sick of being the target whenever Morgana needed to divert his negative attention.</p><p>Whenever Morgana started shit, it was fine. They were just jokes between two friends. He still cared about Ryuji, but they had to keep the rivalry thing going on. That was their dynamic. Clapping back apparently wasn't an option either since the cat was too sensitive to handle a taste of his own medicine. It was all Ryuji's fault that he ran away, and the team let him know it.</p><p>Voices rang out in his head as a reminder of who he was expected to beg for forgiveness.</p><p>
  <em>"Oh Skull, you're pathetic..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I guess you ARE good for something, Skull!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Skull might be worth something after all!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"At the very least, at least I'm more admirable than some carnal blonde monkey!"</em>
</p><p>It doesn't matter how much Morgana has hurt Ryuji with words alone. How much his self-esteem has suffered, how he always has to keep on a strong front for their team to stay unified. He's just supposed to sit there and take it if he wants to fit in. He needs to apologize to Morgana, but no apologies are expected to be returned. That’s just how it is.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Was it something wrong with the team, or... something wrong with him after all?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The seed of doubt is thriving! Just a couple of flashbacks to establish some of Ryuji’s insecurities because for some reason Atlus subjects him to frequent suffering :)</p><p>Honestly I got more reception on my fic than expected, so hopefully this is an exceptional enough update for now. I’m glad there are people who also indulge in RyuGoro content, it’s my guilty pleasure. I’m getting a little swamped with schooling, but fear not, this’ll still be worked on. Thank you to all who’ve sent kind words &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The curtains in the apartment were thrown open, letting warm sunlight flood the room. Ryuji shoved his face deeper into the pillow and loudly groaned in clear protest. The noise came out much more muffled than he’d preferred, but it got the point across well enough.</p><p>Immediately, the first thing he noted was that everything hurt like hell. It was always like this after getting finished with a Palace, but with the added events of literally exploding, getting beat up, then subsequently meeting Akechi again, this period of time felt more draining than ever. At least school wasn’t in session, so he had the next week off to laze around to his heart’s content.</p><p>”It’s too damn early... lemme go back to sleep, just five more minutes... or hours...,” he mumbled sleepily.</p><p>”You don’t even know what time it is,” Someone curtly replied, and from the sound of it, they were next to the window. They must be the one responsible for waking him up with the light.</p><p>
  <em> Wait a minute... that’s not his mom’s voice. And why would she have woken him up in the first place? There wasn’t school today, was there? How did he get on the couch? </em>
</p><p>It took just a moment of disorientation to register the distinctly male voice he heard as Akechi.</p><p><em> Oh, right </em> . <em> Okay then, back to bed. </em></p><p>”It’s time for bed is what it is,” Ryuji grumbled and squeezed his eyes shut further in a failed attempt to go back to sleep. He really didn’t care about how he ended up getting a slumber party with the (in)famous Detective Prince, he just wanted to sleep off his exhaustion as soon as possible, even if it meant staying on Akechi’s couch.</p><p>Two quick but firm pokes to his cheek made Ryuji tense and curl in on himself before finally giving in. He reluctantly turned his head to the side of the sofa and squinted his eyes open to glare at the offender. After adjusting to the sudden brightness and predictably being met with Akechi crouched beside him readying for another poke, he retreated back into his cozy blanket burrow, thoroughly annoyed. “Dick.”</p><p>Akechi stood, already dressed, and now looking down at the other with a small and irritating smirk. His appearance wasn’t any different than how it usually was, aside from wearing a normal black sweatshirt instead of some fancy-pants perfectly chosen outfit, but somehow he still made it work with the same elegance and charm he constantly upheld.</p><p>”Well it helped wake you up, didn’t it?”  He said deviously, bent down, and roughly ruffled the messy blonde hair. Ryuji cursed and hastily swatted his hand away.</p><p>”Eff off, asshole,” he grumbled.</p><p>”Well <em> somebody’s </em> not a morning person.” And while Ryuji wasn’t looking at the other anymore with his face smushed into his forearm, he could still hear the unmistakable amusement in Akechi’s voice. “The painkillers have probably worn off, so you can take some more and go back to bed if you’re still recovering. I simply thought I’d wake you before you woke up on your own because of any lingering pains from your injuries.”</p><p>Ryuji groaned again, nodded, and reluctantly sat up. Akechi seemed satisfied, and he went back to somewhere else in the other room.</p><p>Looking at the clock above the door frame, it was ten in the morning. He rubbed at his eyes, then took some medicine to dull the ache occupying most of his body. As more of his mind cleared and the cloudy fog of sleep disappeared, the memories of last night came back to him.</p><p>He felt... conflicted. Maybe a little confused, and most definitely embarrassed. <em> Sure, just have an emotional breakdown in front of someone who just recently wanted to kill you. That’s logical. Spill out all of your meaningless emotions for him to see. Really bare it all, and have him practically cuddle you until you stop crying like a baby. Hope you didn’t ruin his shirt with all of that blood and disgustingly ugly sobbing. Would you even be able to afford compensating him with the money for a new one? </em></p><p>His own inner voice was mocking him, and frankly, he was too tired to deal with that shit. He ended up just staring blankly at the wall, trying his best not to think too hard anymore.</p><p>That lasted for a good few seconds. Ryuji rubbed his head, completely lost on what to do next. He was being overwhelmed again with another impulsive decision of his, but what else could’ve been done? <em> Should he have just run away and never have looked back, like the other boy originally suggested? </em> (Well, except he couldn’t exactly run or maneuver on his own at the time.) <em> Could he still escape now? Did he even </em> want <em> to leave? </em></p><p>As his hand subconsciously moved to run through unkempt hair in worry, it... reminded him of a certain someone else who had done the same thing to comfort him last night.</p><p>
  <em> What the actual hell? </em>
</p><p>Such a simple action reminded him of fingers delicately stroking through tufts of bleached hair whilst silent reassurances were made, to this morning where the older boy shoved his hand into it again and roughed it up real good.</p><p><em> He really was pathetically attention starved, wasn't he? </em> Despite trying to avoid it in the first place, thinking about the whole situation really didn’t help settle his confusion at all. If anything, it just made him more flustered. Thinking really wasn’t his forte, and turning off his brain was easier said than done.</p><p>Speak of the devil, Akechi came back to the living room with Ryuji’s clothes from yesterday in hand.</p><p>”I washed these when I woke up this morning, they’ll be here when you want to properly get up,” Akechi said as he placed the neatly folded clothes onto the coffee table.</p><p>”Y-Yeah. I mean, uh, thanks,” Ryuji stuttered. “Actually, I think I’ll just get up now, I’m feelin' a lot better than I did yesterday.” Again, thoughts of Akechi ran through his mind without care, and his face was dusted with pale pink hues as he blushed. Everything contained in his memories was a little foggy from extreme amounts of exhaustion at the time, but the basics still stuck out prominently enough to make an embarrassing impact.</p><p>"You sure? I'm not entirely convinced you're okay," Akechi said while placing his hands on his hips.</p><p>"Well I'm not totally okay, but I can handle the rest on my own," Ryuji responded, grabbing his clothes to make his way towards the bathroom. Akechi looked hesitant to accept, but nodded nonetheless and put his arms back down as Ryuji shut the door behind him.</p><p>His washed clothes were soft and still had the lingering warmth from recently coming out of the dryer. They felt nice, and the detergent used smelled good. His shirt still had a couple of small blood stains on it, but they blended in with the dark fabric relatively well. If all else failed, they were now going to be part of the graphic design on the front.</p><p>While changing, Ryuji stole a glance at the mirror and froze, gaze lingering on his bare skin. The bruises were now fully formed. As he stared, the dark blotches of color contrasting his pale complexion seemed almost pretty, in a gruesome sort of artistic sense. Yusuke must be rubbing off on him.</p><p>More importantly, he felt sad while looking at himself. He looked reminiscent of how he was when his father was still around, throwing him into walls and furniture or beating the shit out of him. He was a defenseless kid back then, but he was supposed to be stronger now. He wasn't supposed to let this happen again.</p><p>After finally breaking his blank stare, Ryuji put on his shirt and shrugged on his hoodie to conceal the similar markings covering his arms. It was ironic, no matter how much he ran from the past and thought he’d escaped everything, it always came back. <em> Really takin’ a nice and wholesome trip down memory lane, huh? </em>He gave the mirror a sad smile and turned to step away.</p><p>When Ryuji opened the door he saw Akechi doing something in the kitchen, but it was a mystery as to what. He was reading out of a digital cookbook displayed on his tablet, and grabbed stuff out of the fridge for the next step.</p><p>“Whatcha’ doin’?” Ryuji questioned while peeking at him, currently cracking eggs into a mixing bowl.</p><p>“Cooking, obviously,” Akechi responded without breaking focus on the ingredients.</p><p>“How domestic. You know what I mean, smart-ass.”</p><p>“Cooking breakfast.”</p><p>“...I give up,” Ryuji sighed, going back to the living room to place the borrowed pajamas in the same spot he found his clothes this morning. Next to the pile was his phone, untouched since he last looked at it.</p><p>Acknowledging that now would be as good a time as any to go through it, Ryuji picked it up and nervously turned it on. The notifications from yesterday were still present, along with a new one from his mom wishing him a good night. He got comfortable on the couch, then entered the group chat. He scrolled up to the start of what he missed and began reading the intimidating thread of messages.</p><p>Futaba was sending memes while Ann cheered her on, celebrated with cake, and commented on how awesome the calling card was. Makoto toned down her initial excitement, but still showed significant happiness and confidence when reassuring everyone that her sister would be on the case immediately. Yusuke was sharing a few of his favorite inspirational quotes while thinking about how to translate the moment into an art form, and Haru was profusely expressing her pride and gratitude for everyone. Surprisingly enough, even Morgana was in the chat once or twice, as he was using Ren’s phone to make a demand for sushi as compensation for all of their hard work. It took some more scrolling, but eventually Ryuji found his name being mentioned.</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <em> -Yesterday, 11:24 PM-</em>
</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: pogchamp.jpg</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann</b>: bigchungus.jpeg</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: You heathen, that meme has been dead for ages. Cringe!!!!!</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann</b>: ugandanknuckles.jpeg</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: PPFFTGTYINAHHKMXESDGJNCAAAA NOOO</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Makoto:</b> I know we’ve been at this for a while, but I take it everyone made it home safely?</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Haru:</b> Presumably, since we’ve all been here.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Haru</b>: Oh wait, not everybody. Has anyone heard from Ryuji?</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Yusuke</b>: No.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: Norp.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann</b>: Nada.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Makoto</b>: I haven’t.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Makoto</b>: How about you, Ren? I would assume that he would contact you first since he’s not in the group chat at the moment.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Makoto</b>: Ren??</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ren</b>: No, he hasn’t contacted me.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Haru</b>: Do you think he’s okay?</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: Pffft this is Ryuji we’re talking about, I’m sure he’s fine.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann</b> : True, he’s Mr. “I love to kick ass and yell about being crime fighting vigilantes 24/7”!</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: Lmao</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: But if it makes the rest of you feel any better, I’ll trace his phone's location real quick.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Yusuke</b>: Thank you, Futaba.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Haru</b>: Yes, we appreciate that.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: Bingo! Found him.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: He’s just moving to the station, probably heading home to play video games and sleep, so he’s fine.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Makoto</b>: Oh, that’s good.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: Also Inari, if you’re reeealllly thankful, then you’ll buy me a big fancy lobster dinner as payback for that time you tricked me at the beach.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Yusuke</b>: No.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Yusuke</b>: And I didn’t trick you, it’s not my fault you weren’t able to see them past face value as food.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: bonk.png</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: Consider this a warning.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Haru</b>: I never liked eating lobster, even at the big business dinners in fancy restaurants. It makes me sad when I think about how they’re cooked.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann</b>: What? How are they cooked?</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Futaba</b>: BOILED ALIVE, BABY!</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Haru:</b> Well, there’s a toxin that’s released when they’re killed, so they have to be cooked immediately to get rid of it.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Haru:</b> I suppose Yusuke saved those two lobsters from a most unpleasant death, in a way.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<strong>Haru:</strong> What did you end up doing with those anyways?</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann</b>: WHAT</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann</b>: WHAT THE FUCK</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Makoto</b>: Language, Ann.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann</b>: I can’t help that Futaba’s a twisted little gremlin keen on ruining my innocence! How am I supposed to ever enjoy lobster ever again?!</p><p>
  <em> &gt;&gt; <b>Ren</b> : D0n’t w0rry L4dy 4nn, 1’ll m4k3 y0u a d1sh much b3tter th4n l0bst3r wh3n 1’m hum4n ag41n, &amp; w1th0ut th3 t0rtur3 :3</em>
</p><p>&gt;&gt;<strong>Yusuke:</strong> There’s actually a marine biology course at Kosei, so once I was done using them as models for an art piece I donated them. They now live there happily as class pets.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<strong>Yusuke:</strong> I think. I do hope the culinary class hasn’t kidnapped them.</p><p>
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</p><p>Well, at least some were kind enough to be concerned. That was more than nothing.</p><p>But… didn’t any of them consider the possibilities of Ryuji’s phone being stolen, him getting kidnapped, or anything else? Was just moving to the subway station enough to verify his safety in their eyes? Without even noticing, Ryuji’s face contorted into one of dissatisfaction and disappointed sadness, eyes downcast and another frown developing on his lips.</p><p>“That expression really doesn’t suit you,” Akechi said, setting down plates of food on the small table.</p><p>“I know,” Ryuji mumbled, all the while sinking into himself. He finally averted his gaze from the ground and looked at the breakfast prepared in disbelief, eyes widening. “You’ve gotta be shittin’ me.”</p><p>Akechi chuckled and placed down silverware along with a bottle of syrup. “What can I say? I thought you could use a little humor and good food, so what’s better than delicious pancakes? Two birds with one stone.”</p><p>“I- Holy shit,” Ryuji started laughing. “You’re… You really made delicious pancakes, oh my god.”</p><p>“Now, I’m not a master at homemade cooking, so hopefully they’re actually good,” Akechi said. Ryuji kneeled down to level with the coffee table, and while they were misshapenly far from perfect looking, the pancakes smelled amazing. He hadn’t even eaten since before the Palace infiltration, so anything would do at this point even if it tasted like shit. He started to prepare his serving and took the first bite.</p><p>“Oh man, these are really good! Like, expert housewife cooking material!” Ryuji’s voice came out a little garbled, as he still had the food in his mouth.</p><p>“That’s a relief, I haven’t even picked up a whisk in years. I’m glad you like them.”</p><p>Ryuji finally brightened again, giving a carefree grin while munching on his second bite. Akechi was definitely right, these cheered him up immensely. Just knowing that Akechi put in the effort was enough to make him happy, and he forgot all about his previous worries concerning the Phantom Thieves. He couldn’t remember the last time someone put so much care into doing something for him, even if it was something as simple as making breakfast, so Ryuji just enjoyed the moment in bliss.</p><p>Akechi started to eat too, and gave an amused smile at Ryuji’s enthusiasm. They both started talking about unimportant things, and while neither cared, they enjoyed talking to each other even if it meant difficulties finding a good subject. It felt so normal, like two guys just hanging out and enjoying a pleasant morning together. No Metaverse, no murders, no deadly battles, no rivalries, it was just them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I lost hours of writing work because my browser crashed, guess the dumbass who didn’t start writing in Google Docs until after this tragedy.<br/>-I rewrote what was lost and then some, so it’s alright in the end.<br/>-I misspelled “nope” as “norp” and left it since I feel Futaba would actually say/do that.<br/>-HC that Ann sends dead memes in the group chat exclusively to make Futaba rage.<br/>-Morgana's messages from Ren's phone are the ones with the wonky letters/numbers mixture, and usually his dialogue is already recognizably different than Ren's anyways.</p><p>It's been over a month since I've updated, so I'm really sorry for starving my fellow degenerates, but here we are. This one's a bit more soft, along with a sprinkle of bad humor. Thanks for staying patient &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was a faint, vaguely recognizable feeling that stirred within Ryuji when he talked with Akechi that morning, one he remembered from those times he’d spent with Ren before he got so caught up with everyone and everything else. He’d really gotten busy with taking charge of the Phantom Thieves, taking care of miscellaneous people’s problems from around the city, and being a studious teenager on top of that, so there wasn’t any time to just chill anymore. Ryuji couldn’t recall the last time they just hung out together, without the group or Morgana, to do something fun. Hell, even if it wasn’t anything fun, like studying, he still wanted that closeness with his best friend back.</p><p>The feeling was best described as a pleasant warmth settling within his body until he was practically brimming with it, undoubtedly breaking out into a stupid grin most of the time and forgetting everything else in that moment except for them. Casual touches and brief hugs were used as a release, and if all else failed, he’d go running. Again, words weren’t Ryuji’s strong suit, so he relied on physical contact and body language a lot more.</p><p>It was something he still couldn’t place a name on, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know anyways. Maybe it was his total clinginess to anyone who would give him the bare minimum, but it still felt nice to be wanted around. Maybe it was the reassurance that every time someone laid a hand on him they weren’t always out to hit him. Ren provided that comfort, he was the first real best friend that Ryuji’d ever known.</p><p>Even if they were best friends, were these kinds of feelings normal between two bros? Since it was his first time ever experiencing such a close bond with anyone, Ryuji didn’t know. Then again, what if Ren was like that with everyone? What made Ryuji special? Ren knew way too many people to keep up with, so it’s plausible that he’s just as caring, generous, charming, patient, soothing… okay, now he’s just rambling... Point is, Ren could totally be as nice to him as he is with everybody.</p><p>Thinking about that dulled his mood whenever the occasion arose that Ren blew him off to hang out with somebody else or left him on read, something that was happening more and more frequently lately. Ryuji didn’t want to admit it, but he was jealous. Not of Ren, with his abundance of friends to choose from, but of the people Ren hung out with.</p><p>He just wanted time with his best friend, why was it becoming increasingly difficult to do so? Despite being envious, he didn’t want to be clingy or selfish, and he knew just how much responsibility Ren had, so the nasties had just been brewing while he kept it to himself. Until last night, that is.</p><p>
  <em> Ugh, that sounds like a lame line from a cheesy soap opera. The ever so taboo “last night”, where something scandalous must’ve happened in order to enhance the drama. </em>
</p><p>Ryuji double checked his memory.</p><p>
  <em> Nope, just the most exhausting fit he’s ever thrown, forcing an innocent ex-enemy bystander to take care of him like neither had been fighting to the death the other day. </em>
</p><p>Words couldn’t even begin to describe how flustered he was about his outburst, yet he just wasn’t able to get it out of his head. Ryuji opted to keep himself busy as a distraction, so he was currently finishing up helping Akechi wash the dishes. The aforementioned “feeling” obviously wasn’t as strong as his towards Ren was considering they only just began being genuine to one another, but there were flickers of the same characteristics. It was weird because of just how different the two boys he’d become enamored with were when looking past surface level, not to mention Akechi’s history concerning the Thieves.</p><p>A lot certainly changed in such a short amount of time. It could’ve been the almost complete lack of real interaction beforehand, but confiding in someone else who may even remotely understand and was willing to listen to (coddle) him and his distressed ramblings lifted his spirits at least a little bit, even with the extreme embarrassment that came afterwards. The intention to help seemed genuine, and that just mixed in another bucket of bafflement.</p><p>Ryuji sighed and stretched his back with an audible crack when he got done.</p><p>“So, whaddya wanna do now?” He asked.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Akechi replied, looking mildly bewildered. He finished placing the last plate to dry and used a towel to wipe his hands, Ryuji opting to just shake his own wildly to dry them. The water splattered and Akechi cringed as some got near his face, restraining his need to chastise the blonde again.</p><p>“Well, I mean, what else is there to do? I’m bored,” Ryuji whined.</p><p>“You’re such a child. What am I, your butler?”</p><p>Ryuji smiled and his eyes glinted as inspiration struck. Before he could voice said idea in a witty retort, Akechi beat him to it.</p><p>“Don’t answer that, it was a rhetorical question. If you’re bored you can do more chores.”</p><p>“Oh I see, so now <em> I’m </em> the butler? Do I gotta call you master? Should I add cat ears too? I hear catboys are all the rage these days, nya,” Ryuji did the classic neko pose with his two hands at different heights accentuating his form, curled in on themselves and loosely hanging from his wrists.</p><p>Akechi looked unimpressed.</p><p>“You look ridiculous.”</p><p>“You’re no fun,” Ryuji grumbled and started picking at one of the band-aids on his arm.</p><p>He didn’t recognize why he even wanted to hang out with Akechi. Maybe it was once again his clinginess to those who’d show the bare minimum when it comes to kindness, but he felt nice to be around ever since dropping the act, even if he was prone to be more aggressive and withdrawn.</p><p>They were opposites, balancing each other out and finding the occasional commonality. It felt more natural now that the whole traitor/deception/Shido business was over. There was still tension between the two, but that might improve over time. He’d obviously never be perfect, even Ryuji was far from it, but he was willing to give him a chance to experience a friend. God knows they could both use one.</p><p>
  <em> Ooh, maybe they should go to the arcade. Akechi’d be good with one of those shooting games, wouldn’t he? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> ...Okay, maybe that was unintentionally too morbid. Bad idea. </em>
</p><p>“Hey, stop that, I don’t want to have to replace those every five minutes,” Akechi scolded, yanking his hand away from the bandage.</p><p>“Yes <em> mom </em>,” Ryuji exaggerated sarcastically.</p><p>“I’m only concerned for… my work. I spent a lot of time applying those,” Akechi removed his grip. “And speaking of your mother, shouldn’t you be getting back home if you’re feeling better? She must be worried.”</p><p>“Geez, just tell me straight up if you’re kicking me out!”</p><p>“Fine then, I’ll dump you on the side of the road in a cardboard box for some other tortured soul to find. We can get you those cat ears to make it extra pitiful,” Akechi vaguely motioned towards imaginary ears atop Ryuji’s head.</p><p>“You’re so mean, no empathy for cats?” He fake pouted.</p><p>“Last I remember, you and Morgana were having your own issues. I wouldn’t put it past you to fist-fight cats if they’re like him.”</p><p>Ryuji stuck his tongue out mockingly. “Was already a dog-person anyways. <em>And</em> he still says he’s a human. No skin off my… bones?” he trailed off in uncertainty. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound right...”</p><p>Akechi just stared at him before a switch must’ve flipped in his brain, registering what abomination befell his ears.</p><p>“<em> Nose </em> . The phrase is ‘no skin off my nose’. How on Earth would <em> bones </em> have skin?”</p><p>“Dude how am I s’posed to know? Does it look like I pay attention to jack shit in class? And I got like ninety percent of the sayin’ correct, so that’s basically good enough.”</p><p>“Fine, whatever you say. Back to the matter at hand-”</p><p>“My mom? She already knew I was stayin’ over, and she’s probably sleepin’ now anyways, so it prolly isn’t the best time to go home and make a racket,” he said. From the puzzled look he got, Ryuji continued with a simple explanation. “Late shifts.”</p><p>“I see... And your dad?” Akechi inquired.</p><p>Right. Ren, Yusuke, and Morgana were the only ones who knew the basic details of his home life from that hotpot party where Ann fell asleep. They were the only ones in his friend group who knew at least, since the track team had undoubtedly known since the whole Kamoshida incident last year. Not to mention it going around in gossip during the aftermath, but it’s mostly died down since that time. The other Thieves might’ve noticed the absence of a father, but none brought it up.</p><p>Realistically speaking, they might not want to. Haru and Makoto’s parents are both dead, although Makoto has a motherly big sister to take care of her. Yusuke’s surrogate adoptive father might as well be dead, having stolen his work and let his mother die, his biological father’s whereabouts unknown. Futaba <em> had </em> a single mom until she was murdered right in front of her eyes. Luckily she has Sojiro to provide for her and Ren now, basically like a dad. Ann has two parents even if they’re working abroad a lot, so that was something.</p><p>“You okay?” Akechi looked questioningly at Ryuji when he realized he’d zoned out and hadn’t given a proper answer.</p><p>“Oh, um- sorry, I do that sometimes. He’s, uh… gone.”</p><p>“...Oh.”</p><p>“Don’t worry ‘bout it, ‘s not dead or anything, just left when I was younger after terrorizing me ‘n my mom for a few years. He was a scumbag. I’d have wanted him ‘round if he were a good dad, but we’re better off without that asshole,” he instinctively crossed his arms and sunk back, averting eye contact as if he were trying to hide in his baggy jacket without notice. He forced a chuckle out of mild humiliation at the awkward silence that followed.</p><p>Ryuji jumped when his phone suddenly went off with a text notification. It was a message from the group chat. Several more notifications popped up as he unlocked it.</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <em> - Today, 11:03 AM - </em>
</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ren:</b> Everyone free to hang out at LeBlanc today?</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ren: </b>I figured we could all just meet up normally and have a little gathering/premature celebration after yesterday.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ren:</b> And by “I”, I mean Futaba, she kept pestering me about celebrating. Sojiro gave the okay.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b> <em>Ann, Futaba, &amp; 2 others are typing…</em> </b></p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>“What’s it say?” Akechi motioned at the phone.</p><p>“Ya don’t need to pry into my business, y’know,” Ryuji retorted. “Was just Ren asking all of us to hang out at LeBlanc. Wanna come?” He joked.</p><p>“Hah, no,” Akechi laughed dryly. “I’d rather not.”</p><p>“Good choice.”</p><p>“What about you?”</p><p>“Huh?” Ryuji asked quizzically, glancing up from his phone screen.</p><p>“I mean, what is your choice?” Akechi clarified.</p><p>“I don’t think I have one. Everyone’s prolly expected to be there, ‘n I don’t think I can skip out.”</p><p>“Sure you can, there are plenty of excuses if you’re not up to it. Such as feigning sickness, which isn’t entirely false, plans with your mom or maybe another friend, stuff like that. You’re really okay with confronting them again so soon?”</p><p>“Who said I was confronting them about anythin’? And I don’t wanna <em> lie </em>to them! Futaba’d track my phone anyways, so not like I could even get away with it,” he scoffed.</p><p>“Seems an awful lot like they run every aspect of your life, even outside of heists,” Akechi remarked.</p><p>His observation had truth to it, one that Ryuji didn’t like to acknowledge a lot. There wasn’t anything else in his life, so he ended up kind of fixated. Not to mention the constant lurking technological presence of Futaba.</p><p>Ryuji reflexively clenched his fists as if he could deflect words, softening when he felt his still-healing gashes sting from the increased pressure. Akechi’d probably throw a fit if he were to ruin his “work” again.</p><p>“It’s more complicated than that. It’s just ‘cause they’re concerned for my safety, we gotta be like that with what business we get into.”</p><p>“Have you ever considered just turning your phone off?”</p><p>...</p><p>Ryuji stared for a moment. “U-Uh, yeah. ‘Course!”</p><p>Akechi stared back with those piercing mahogany eyes and Ryuji faltered.</p><p>“...No,” he admitted.</p><p>“Fine then, we’re making plans right now. Tell them you’re hanging out with a friend and you’ll have your phone off all day. Shut it off immediately afterwards and give them no room for argument.”</p><p>“Who died and made you king?”</p><p>“Shido, probably,” Akechi deadpanned.</p><p>“<em> Dude, </em>” Ryuji groaned.</p><p>“Fine, figuratively.”</p><p>“Better, I guess,” he mumbled. “Wait a minute, you said hangin’ out with a friend…? Does that mean you’re my friend?”</p><p>“Don’t get cocky. If your standards are low enough to have them as friends, then I suppose it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to call us such.”</p><p>“You’re still mad at them?” Ryuji grimaced.</p><p>“Oh no, frankly, I’m pissed,” Akechi glared, and while it wasn’t aimed at the younger boy, the calmly restrained anger definitely made him look threatening. “I already hated them, but they have the gall to act all casual after what they pulled? Not that I’m any less of a villain, but couldn’t they even try to look appealing to be around?”</p><p>“I think you’re takin’ this too personally.”</p><p>“Whatever, just text them.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> - Today, 11:07 AM - </em>
</p><p>&lt;&lt;<b>Ryuji:</b> Sorry guys, can’t today, already got plans with an old friend since he’s back for the holidays. Turning my phone off.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann:</b> Can’t believe you’re betraying us! Bet he’s prettier than me, isn’t he??</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ann: </b>Jk obviously, we’ll miss ya, have fun!</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ren:</b> n0 w3 w0n’t &gt;:3 n0 mor3 4nn0y1ng b1ond3 m0ron5!! m0ar f4tty tun4 f0r m3!!1!</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Makoto:</b> Morgana, sushi is too expensive, fatty tuna will have to wait.</p><p>&gt;&gt;<b>Ren:</b> :(</p><p>———</p><p>So much for avoiding shooting games. The boys ended up in the arcade after debating what to actually do, resulting in Ryuji getting his ass handed to him in Gun-About. His prediction about Akechi’s skill level was proven to be correct. The screen displayed a giant “LOSE” in big, bold letters.</p><p>“Ughhh! Dude, no fair!”</p><p>“And how exactly was that unfair? I hope I haven’t damaged your pride beyond repair too badly,” Akechi placed the plastic controller back on its stand with a smirk teasing its way onto his face.</p><p>“It’s ‘cause I’m used to the big shotgun-like thing I use in the Metaverse! You get the dorky laser gun, and while it looks stupid as shit, it gives you an advantage in video game training!”</p><p>“I think you should be better at handling different types of weapons, especially if you play these games frequently. And you’re a sore loser.”</p><p>“Am not, I’m just callin’ it like it is!”</p><p>“Mmhmm,” Akechi hummed skeptically.</p><p>“Fine! Ya know what would settle this? A real ass fight, no cheap arcade replicas,” Ryuji grinned mischievously.</p><p>“Well that was unnecessarily dramatic for just a few losses,” he snarkily commented. Ryuji subtly flipped him off. “Like, in Mementos? Are you serious?”</p><p>“Totally serious, ya gonna take it?”</p><p>“Don’t forget who you’re challenging; I’ve been working solo ever since awakening, you’re going to need more than luck if you want to win.”</p><p>“Dude just gimme a yes or a no!”</p><p>“Fine, but I won’t go easy on you.”</p><p>”Good, I don’t expect you to. In fact, I’d be pissed if you did,” the blonde said, excitedly rushing out of the arcade.</p><p>———</p><p>Akechi thought on his way to Mementos. He learned better than to underestimate any members of the Phantom Thieves, but they always had each other to rely on. He recalled the last time he dueled one-on-one with Amamiya. They were a fairly even match, although Akechi hadn’t brought out Loki yet, so who knows how they would fare now?</p><p>However, Amamiya was their leader and a wielder of the wild card. Sakamoto just had Seiten Taisei and raw strength, but he proved himself a force to be reckoned with multiple times over during dire circumstances.</p><p>Maybe this would prove to be interesting after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>-Shoutout to us for practically abandoning confidants when we max out their social link.</p><p>-Another apology for slow updates, I had lots of stuff to take care of during late Dec and early Jan. I know I’m under no obligation to post frequently nor will I have a schedule, but I still enjoy writing and wish to get these out a little more. &lt;3 I’m still catching up to speed a bit. Good news is that inspiration struck for the plot of more chapters in this fic, hoorah!</p><p>-Also, almost 100 kudos?! Wow, thank you all so much, I didn’t really think my lil’ self indulgent rare-pair ship fic would garner this amount of love. Again, thank you all so much!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We’ll stay on the first few floors,” Ryuji said as they both stepped into Mementos. “The Shadows are weakest and I remember them mostly runnin’ away when we came back here; Mona said somethin’ about power levels. Should give us plenty o’ room to work around,” He cracked his knuckles and grinned.</p><p>“You seem all too enthusiastic to be beaten up by me. A bit masochistic, don’t you think?” Akechi remarked.</p><p>“Hah! You wish,” He snirked and gestured towards Akechi’s black mask outfit. “You’re the one wearing whatever <em> that </em> is. How’d ya even rip your mask off if it’s a helmet? Kinda cheatin’ if you ask me.”</p><p>“Good thing no one's asking.”</p><p>The two quipped back and forth while walking towards and descending the stairs. There was a strange sense of someone, <em> something </em>, watching them, but whenever Ryuji turned to face the source, there was nothing. It didn’t feel threatening per se, just that it was keeping an interested eye on those who entered. The air felt different there, cooler yet vastly more powerful than the usual intimidating atmosphere in the rest of Mementos. Ryuji recalled Ren zoning out around that area sometimes, saying something about Persona fusion after breaking his trance-like state. </p><p>The pressure finally dissipated once they’d ventured into Qimranut to search for a suitable space, paying no mind to the invisible observer once it’d been left behind. Predictably, all of the Shadows that they came across had immediately fled the surrounding area at first glance.</p><p>It was strange just walking through the dark, sullen tunnels instead of riding in the Mona-bus, looking out for enemies or anxiously squirming around with adrenaline. It was almost reminiscent of that time they had to go chasing after Haru and the little bastard when Morgana ran off during his big break-up with the Thieves.</p><p>That was less than pleasant; having to run after a vehicle while also keeping track of his injured leg. Not to mention having to avoid getting run over by the damn thing on occasion. His leg ended up painfully sore anyways, but there really wasn’t any helping it. At least the situation was resolved with minimal conflict, and if Ryuji’s physical discomfort was the cost, then so be it. He was just glad everyone was united again as teammates and friends, including Morgana and Haru, who was newly recruited at the time. It made getting up in the middle of the night to take more Advil just a little more bearable.</p><p>The pathways in Qimranut ended up being a little too small for their liking, so the two descended a couple more paths down to briefly check it out.</p><p>Mementos seemed to shift in their favor because one of the floors of Aiyatsbus had a side road that branched off into many different directions, one leading to a large chamber that looked akin to the ones that the Phansite requests or treasure chests would preoccupy.</p><p>“Looks good, don’tcha think?” Ryuji asked, hopping lightly on his feet to the other side of the empty room.</p><p>“Yes, we’ve been wandering long enough, I’d like to actually do something productive with my time. Now stop jumping around unless you want to fight without readying yourself,” Akechi replied, unsheathing his serrated blade with a single smooth movement.</p><p>“Nah, just figured you could use the handicap,” he winked, also steadying himself and gripping his metal bat tightly around the handle.</p><p>“You’re insufferable.”</p><p>“Butcha know ya love me!” Ryuji taunted.</p><p>Akechi suddenly lunged forward, blade in hand and readying a strike. He was swift, and Ryuji barely had enough time to leap out of the way last minute, clumsily ducking under the weapon. He recovered instantly by rolling as his body hit the floor, wincing as a bruised knee from last night’s troubles was pushed into the train tracks at an uncomfortable angle. He instinctively stood back up, putting his bat in a guarding position as a metallic clang echoed throughout the room from Akechi hitting it with his sword.</p><p>“Oh, my apologies, I thought you were ready,” Akechi sneered.</p><p>“You kiddin’? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”</p><p>Ryuji playfully glared at him, not breaking eye contact as he swept a foot into the other boy’s leg with his steel-toed boots. All the while, he pushed him back with the bat and landed a solid kick to the chest. Akechi stumbled backwards and Ryuji advanced, swinging to hit his side, but it was blocked with an arm. That’d surely leave a nasty bruise.</p><p>As he was pulling it back, Akechi grabbed Ryuji’s weapon with his free hand and yanked it towards him, landing a solid punch to the face before kneeing him in the gut. Ryuji coughed and tried to land his own weakened punch. The only problem was that Akechi had a helmet, so his face was pretty much off-limits. He redirected his fist to his shoulder at the last second, and luckily, it was forceful enough to push him back a bit.</p><p>The two stood still for a moment, briefly catching their breath and analyzing the opponent. Ryuji was the one to charge this time, preparing to swing his bat down onto Akechi’s head. If he put enough blunt force into it, it might do some damage even with the helmet. Not enough to kill, of course… hopefully. Even if he dodges last minute, it could connect with his shoulder instead.</p><p>He didn’t anticipate Akechi ducking and lunging towards him during the downswing, tackling him to the ground. In a twist of irony, it was actually Ryuji who ended up hitting his head on the pavement.</p><p>Everything blurred and there was a sharp pain permeating through Ryuji’s skull. He had enough sense to block his face with his bat before he received an uppercut punch that broke it from his double handed grip. Still reeling, he barely had enough time to quickly reach out his hand to stop the sword that was aiming for his unguarded chest.</p><p>The blade connected with his palm, slicing through Ryuji’s bright yellow glove and a layer of skin. He gripped the sword in an attempt to throw it off, but before he could do that, Akechi took his <em> serrated </em> blade and forcefully pulled it back towards himself, slicing Ryuji’s palm clean open.</p><p>He cried out and used the end of his bat, still gripped in his unharmed hand, to jab it directly underneath Akechi’s ribcage. Ryuji hastily stood up and reached towards his mask, blood dripping everywhere and staining his Metaverse costume. Finally grasping the mask despite the stinging pain from his palm wound, he hastily ripped it off.</p><p>“Seiten Taisei!”</p><p>He was engulfed by the bright blue light as Seiten Taisei readily manifested behind him.</p><p>“Loki!” Akechi took hold of the front of his stupid-looking helment and tore it away, summoning his own Persona the moment after Ryuji summoned his.</p><p>Ryuji frowned, desperately trying to remember what Loki’s skills were. Times like these were when he wished he’d paid more attention to his teammates’ skill-sets despite not being a tactician or navigator.</p><p>
  <em> Well, he’s weak to wind, and Akechi definitely didn’t have wind the last time he checked, so that was good. That meant Akechi didn’t have a weakness advantage over him. Oh, wait! Loki’s like Arsene, he has curse skills. Also bless skills from Robin Hood? Best be prepared for both. But isn’t he also a Wild Card? He didn’t have any more Personas hidden up his sleeve, right? </em>
</p><p>“Ziodyne!” Ryuji quickly commanded. Usually it was Ren leading the team and giving orders, but now Ryuji was on his own. If he was lucky, the ziodyne could inflict a status ailment.</p><p>A bolt of lightning shot down and struck Loki directly, a loud <em> crack </em> booming throughout the room. It wasn’t enough to paralyze him, but it was a powerful attack nonetheless. Akechi briefly faltered, giving out his own order for an eigaon with confidence. Ryuji was quick to move out of the way thanks to his speed stat, casting charge while he was at it. His plan was a gamble, but it might be the easiest way to gain the upper hand. He wasn’t a planner like Ren, Makoto, or Futaba for a reason, that just wasn’t his thing. Even outside the Thieves, he always just winged it, never thinking of things until he’s doing them. Now must’ve been the time to test how effective, or defective, his quick thinking would turn out to be.</p><p>“Loki, riot gun!” Akechi shouted.</p><p>“Oh shit,” Ryuji yelped, hastily scrambling to dodge dozens of bullets. He could see more than feel one graze his face as another struck his thigh, just above his break. A fresh round of pain shot through his already-busted leg. He snapped back to attention once another bullet connected with his shoulder. The attack ceased, giving him an opening to push the final step of his plan.</p><p>“Kgh… dammit, Seiten Taisei! God’s hand!” He grimaced, pain pulsing through his leg.</p><p>The plan worked. It connected, and Akechi was slammed against the wall before being thrown to the floor from the sheer amount of power put into the attack. <em> That </em> was Ryuji’s expertise; being the heavy hitter. Akechi sat up, wiping away the blood running down his face and chuckling darkly.</p><p>“You little <em> shit </em>, I can’t believe you just did that,” Akechi said with a restrained look in his eyes.</p><p>“Well you better get used to it.”</p><p>“Oh, you’re <em> so dead </em>,” he growled, getting into an offensive position. “Let’s see just how long tha-”</p><p>Akechi was abruptly cut off by the sound of heavy chains rattling alarmingly nearby. Ryuji was confused as to why he suddenly stopped, realization dawning a second later. The blood drained from his face. Akechi looked at him as if to ask “what the hell is that”.</p><p>“Shit, oh shit- dude we gotta go,” Ryuji exclaimed. “Remember what Mona said about that one <em> reeallly </em> powerful Shadow that we should avoid at all costs? The Reaper? Yeah, that’s ‘im, and we gotta get the hell outta here before-”</p><p>A crash resonated throughout the chamber as part of the wall was destroyed during the Reaper’s entrance. Rubble flew at the pair, each ducking for cover by the furthest wall. Ryuji ended up behind a pillar while Akechi found a giant, sturdy boulder to shield him.</p><p>The Reaper was massive, chains draped around its body and giant guns holstered at its side. It was also blocking the only entrance and exit in the room.</p><p>“Why the hell is it here?!” Akechi shouted.</p><p>“Well, uh- Mona! Mona said that it only shows up when ya stay on a floor for too long- Oh, <em> that’s </em> why it came for us!”</p><p>“You idiot, you <em> forgot </em> about that?!”</p><p>“Hey, you did too!”</p><p>Ryuji heard a deafening blast before he realized that just above his head, the pillar he was crouched behind was shot at, shattering whatever material it was made of into hundreds of pieces. The entire thing started to collapse, so he ran over towards Akechi. When he was close enough, Akechi suddenly jumped out and grabbed his arm, dragging them both backwards. Another round of bullets lodged into the wall where he was just standing.</p><p>“Thanks,” Ryuji gasped. When he fell, dirt and rubble was rubbed into his open palm and it stung like hell. Still better than being blown to bits, but painful nonetheless.</p><p>“I don’t need thanks, I need you to get out of here alive,” Akechi hissed. “As of now, it’s blocking our exit. Do you have any items on you? Like a Goho-M or Vanish Ball?”</p><p>“No, R- I mean Joker is usually in charge of ‘em.”</p><p>They were, almost literally, stuck between a rock and a hard place. He chanced a peek past the boulder to assess the situation while the Shadow reloaded. There were no other escape routes, just as Akechi said, and there wasn’t any feasible way they could simply sneak past the Reaper. Then again, if they stayed here, they’d be killed eventually.</p><p>These life-or-death scenarios were becoming far too frequent for Ryuji’s liking. He needed to think quickly, conjure up something like what he did on Shido’s ship.</p><p>Another extremely risky plan started to spontaneously form itself. His last one with Akechi worked, but the consequences if he failed weren’t nearly as steep. It took less than a second for him to decide to take the gamble.</p><p>“I’ll distract it while you run for the exit, once we leave the floor it’ll leave us alone,” Ryuji quickly explained. “I’m faster than you so I’ll catch up once you’re at a safe distance.”</p><p>Akechi gave him a dumbfounded look. “That is quite possibly the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard, there’s no way you could make it in time.”</p><p>“That’s awfully reminiscent of what everyone told me when I went to run for the lifeboat. Glad to see ya care for me, but unless you have another plan <em> right now </em>, too bad! I’m goin’ through with it anyway!” Ryuji saluted and gave a determined grin. “Don’t die!”</p><p>He ran to catch the Reaper’s attention, throwing a rock in its direction before Akechi could raise protest. The distraction worked, with the Shadow setting its sights on Ryuji in particular. He motioned for Akechi to leave as he took out his shotgun, darted over, and fired at the Reaper on the side opposite where he was escaping. Akechi frowned deeply, disappearing from view as he ran into the open passages.</p><p>The only issue with Ryuji’s plan was that he didn’t think about what to do between getting Akechi out and catching up, an oversight that made itself apparent real quick. Now he was stuck in close proximity with the Reaper blocking his way out, murderous intent focused solely on him. The Reaper’s eye glinted as it prepared a fatal attack when a sudden blast of magic hit the back of its head, causing it to let out an ugly shriek of surprise.</p><p>The recognizable black-and-white patterned figure of Loki was behind it. Akechi wasn’t too far in the distance, shouting orders of attack. Recognizing an opening when he saw one, Ryuji sprinted to the exit, narrowly dodging a swipe the creature took at him when it realized what was going on.</p><p>Ryuji sprinted for dear life towards Akechi at the other end of the tracks. He was almost there when his leg started to lag from his wound during the fight, almost tripping him up multiple times. He was running on pure adrenaline again, and now that it was almost depleted, his senses started to hone in on the pain permeating his body. So much blood stained the fabric around his thigh.</p><p>He stumbled over a broken train track, bending over in agony at the burn radiating throughout his leg. Ryuji vaguely recognized the other boy rushing towards him, grabbing his upper arm and hauling ass towards the escalators leading to the floor above while shot after shot rang out behind them. That dodged and weaved enough to avoid being hit, and after several corridors and turns in the path, they saw the platform. It was like seeing the goddamn gates of heaven.</p><p>Practically picking him up, Akechi darted up the stairs and threw them both to the floor when they emerged. They were both panting and gasping for breath, but<em> alive. </em></p><p>“We… are never,” Akechi gasped for more air, “doing that again.”</p><p>“Agreed,” Ryuji was equally out of breath. Each intake of air felt like he was pouring buckets of lava down his dry throat. He shakily exhaled, sighing.</p><p>Ryuji still had his share of healing injuries from the girls, which unfortunately couldn’t be healed in the Metaverse. They’d tried healing injuries afflicted in the real world before, but it had no effect. Looking back, it probably wasn’t the best idea to jump right back into fighting the day after his near-death and triggering Shido’s change of heart. He also had bullet wounds, a deep slash in his hand that was still gushing blood, and a sharp headache from the duel.</p><p>The blood running down Akechi’s face hadn’t stopped either and he had to periodically wipe it off of his right eye. He definitely had multiple nasty bruises concealed beneath his clothes too.</p><p>To sum things up, they were both in really bad shape. They were extremely lucky they escaped alive, especially without the Phantom Thieves or the Mona-bus.</p><p>Actually, no… they survived, and not just by some miracle, but because they fought to live even if they only had each other to rely on. Sure, more people would’ve been helpful, but they did it regardless. Ryuji created the distraction for Akechi, and he’d returned the favor. Things could’ve gone way worse.</p><p>That strong, unspoken connection when you’re with only one other person during a life-threatening situation, planning and fighting alongside them, was something he’d only shared with Ren before. That was something special to him, it was something nobody else had the chance to experience. He was the one to get captured with him in a strange new dimension, <em> he </em> was the direct cause for Ren’s awakening to Arsene. Despite being absolutely terrifying at the time, that was a memory Ryuji’d held close to his heart.</p><p>Things would never be the same with all the new members that’d joined the Phantom Thieves. Not to imply that that’s an inherently bad thing, it just felt… less personal or close knit now that they were a larger group. They were still closer than everyone else in his life, but most didn’t feel like naturally built friendships outside of work.</p><p>Like Makoto, for example. Ryuji wouldn’t hang out with Makoto like he was hanging out with a friend. They never even talked outside of meetings or group events, except maybe from her doing her duties as student council president by disciplining the school delinquent. They just didn’t take interest in each other and never would’ve spoken more than necessary if the Phantom Thieves didn’t exist.</p><p>The Thieves were pretty much obligated to be close-ish since they’ve been involved in the Metaverse-psychological-vigilante shit together, but for the most part, that was it. The people he’d actually spend time with outside of obligation were Ren, Ann, and Yusuke.</p><p>Of course, even if unintentionally, Ren started slowly drifting away. Those days where they’d just go for runs together, see a movie, read manga, or play video games until late at night weren’t happening anymore. They still considered each other best friends, but Ren now had to divide his rare free time that he once dedicated to Ryuji among various others that had shown up since. For some weird reason, everyone was desperately starving for his attention and validation. Ryuji included.</p><p>Somehow he felt he needed to get that validation back, prove his worth, which might’ve helped spur him to be so reckless at the end of Shido’s Palace since he felt like he wasn’t contributing anything anymore other than dead weight. And no matter how close they were, the Phantom Thieves were still his friends, there was no way in hell he’d just let them die.</p><p>Ryuji wanted to be worth something. He wanted to save the people in his life he cared about more than anyone else. Not only that, it turns out he wanted to mean something to the boy he cared about the most.</p><p>Which is why it stung so badly to be abandoned by him in particular, beaten and slumped against the lamppost outside of the diet building. To be abandoned in Shinjuku to potentially get raped by two older men.</p><p>
  <em> Was that what a broken heart felt like? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But he wasn’t gay. He wasn’t in love with a guy. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He wasn’t, right? He only had eyes for girls. Right?</em>
</p><p>
  <em> Then what was he feeling? Why was he feeling heartache? What was he sure of anymore?</em>
</p><p>That’s why when fighting both Akechi and the Reaper, it made Ryuji happy that he was still capable of fighting on the frontlines after so much doubt about the matter. Everything was still so confusing, but at least that was something.</p><p>Even through the discomfort of laying on the cold station platform floor and the constant ache that wracked his body, he inexplicably started to awkwardly laugh just from the bizarre situation and how scared he was. Akechi being added to the mix of internal conflict just added another layer to the ‘what the fresh hell is going on in Ryuji’s head’ cake.</p><p>“What’s so funny?” Akechi interrupted to ask, digging around for something.</p><p>
  <em>He brought up a good question.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘What’s so funny’... It seemed like such a simple question, but even Ryuji was unsure of the answer and it was starting to become too much to bear. Do other people start laughing after stepping directly onto Death’s doorstep and barely escaping alive? That happened two days in a row now. Is it just a natural nervous reaction?</em>
</p><p>“Nothin’, just thinkin’,” is what he settled on responding with.</p><p>“Yeah... okay. Here,” he held out two Beads and dropped one into Ryuji’s hand. “Take this.”</p><p>“Again, thanks. You’ve been savin’ my ass way too much. Where’d ya get these?” Ryuji said as he popped it into his mouth. Beads were similar to boba pearls, popping in his mouth and spreading whatever magical liquid was encased inside. His wounds immediately started mending themselves, leaving nothing but the drying blood that was already caked on his skin and clothes.</p><p>Healing magic left an uncomfortable itching sensation over and inside the injuries, much like real life slow-paced healing might, but it didn’t last as long as it was largely left alone during the short process. It was a matter of restraint to not claw at your flesh and make everything worse.</p><p>“I still had them from looting treasure chests in Niijima-san’s Palace.”</p><p>Akechi ate his own Bead and soon both boys were stood up and walking back to the entrance of Mementos in near-full health. They were both more alert and on edge from the previous Reaper attack, but it didn’t show back up.</p><p>“We should stick to video games,” Akechi muttered. “No more duels. That was exhausting.”</p><p>Ryuji jokingly elbowed him.</p><p>“You’re just upset I totally won.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Do I smell... implied angsty PegoRyu? In MY fic???</p><p>Just in time for Valentine’s Day despite nothing being remotely Valentine’s themed, but hey, here’s my gift to all of you! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>After finally exiting the Metaverse, the two found themselves in the diner on Central Street. The remnants of people who came for a midday lunch at Bikkuri Boy steadily trickled out, so they took the opportunity to grab some food while the crowds were leaving. Ryuji sank into the worn leather seat on one side of the booth while Akechi took the opposite. He bumped his knee on the underside of the table, hissing out a curse and fumbling to catch the ketchup bottle from falling over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Real smooth,” Ryuji teased sarcastically as Akechi smacked it back on the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A waitress awkwardly approached their table a couple seconds after, catching the tail-end of the conversation out of context. She had long black hair pulled into a braid and glasses framing her face. She had on a friendly customer service smile, handing each of them menus while taking their order of drinks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ryuji languidly sipped on his PhD Pepper once it arrived. He was mindlessly fiddling with the wrapper of the straw while Akechi ripped off old, peeling bandaids and added fresh ones that he conveniently had stored in his pocket. He stubbornly insisted on being the one to apply them even if the blonde could’ve easily done so himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oww!” Ryuji yelped at a particularly sticky bandaid being torn from his forearm. He protectively rubbed the stinging area of skin. “Go easy, will ya?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ripping them off quickly is less painful than going slow, this is the best I can manage. Arm,” Akechi commanded, peeling another bandage out of its packaging. Ryuji complied, reaching out his arm over the table again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you need any assistance?” the waitress returned, clutching one of those little notebooks used to write down orders. “We have a first-aid kit in case of emergencies if you need it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, we’re good, thank you,” Akechi swiftly responded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alrighty then, may I take your orders?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boys placed their orders and she scampered off to work. Luckily they weren’t suspicious enough to warrant further concern, as any passerby would just assume the injuries being patched were from kids being kids. And to a degree, they kinda were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t see why I even need more to begin with, they already started healin’,” Ryuji sighed and crumpled up the straw wrapper before discarding it towards the end of the table. He set his face in his palm that wasn’t being inspected by the detective like he was being carefully tested for crucial evidence in a crime scene.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait- no, those are fingerprints they test</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he mentally corrected, tapping his fingers against his cheek.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I know you’ll just end up picking at them,” Akechi replied curtly, turning Ryuji’s hand over in case he missed anywhere. “Just be glad I didn’t use Neo Featherman bandaids.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn, missed opportunity, I woulda looked so badass,” he scoffed. “Nobody could dare take me on with Feather Owl on my side.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mhm, it’s an awful shame,” Akechi fake sympathized.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, well there’s always next time I get beat up. When that happens again I’ll know who to call.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The brunette faltered, just barely for a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>If</span>
  </em>
  <span> that ever happens again, I assure you the perpetrators themselves will need a lot more than a few Featherman bandaids,” he threatened, throwing Ryuji a little off guard with what seemed to be… protectiveness?</span>
</p><p><span>“Oh geez, nah dude! Don’t worry ’bout it, I don’t want any blood on your hands, or mine for that matter. Even if that</span> <span>happens, I’m not worth the trouble of fightin’ over,'' he smiled apologetically, fixating on a suddenly very interesting speck of dust in the corner.</span></p><p>
  <span>It was as flattering as much as it was surprising to see Akechi… well, express emotions; at least in such an upfront way. Then again, it could’ve just been an excuse so he could kill the Phantom Thieves more pleasurably. Or anyone else. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ryuji hadn’t really been doing a great job at convincing him otherwise about them, had he?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But why would he take such good care of him then? To get closer to the Thieves since he could no longer infiltrate himself? To use Ryuji?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that what they tell you?” Akechi questioned, drawing a puzzled look from Ryuji, who had started absentmindedly mixing his soda around with his straw only to stop abruptly. The gentle clanking of ice against the side of the glass cup came to a halt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? Who?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just- anyone, really. The Phantom Thieves, the track team, kids at school; is that what they tell you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ryuji guiltily glanced away again. “I mean, not really… anymore, at least. It’s kinda the actions speak louder than words type o’ deal, y’know? I’ve dealt with this shit pretty much all my life without anyone ever botherin’ no matter how close I think we are, so it’s pretty damn obvious after seventeen years. Hell, even my own dad… yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he gained the courage to look back up, Akechi’s was deep in thought, brows furrowed and a murderous, disturbed glint shone in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay though! Don’t worry, I’m okay, I’ve lived up ‘til now, I’m cool with it,'' Ryuji hastily added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You shouldn’t be,” he argued, darkened expression softening just a bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I kinda have to be, don’t wanna make anythin’ worse. Kamoshida’s a good example of what’d happen,” Ryuji laughed nervously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time it was Akechi’s turn to be puzzled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened with Kamoshida? He treated all the boys the same with the abuse, didn’t he?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t-? I guess it has been like a year or more since it happened and we never bothered tellin’ life stories, but I figured that’d be part of his big confession to the police.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The only students in the report listed by name were the female victims, in which he specifically targeted for… sexually charged reasons. You… weren’t a victim of that too, were you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“N-Nah, geez, no, I wasn’t. It was like how he treated the other guys times a hundred. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> hated me since I refused to back down. So he- um, well you already know some ‘bout my dad, but he managed to dig up that info. This was after he got our coach fired and <em>graciously </em>volunteered for the position so he could destroy the team. Big evil plot ‘n all that. We were fightin’ again one day durin’ practice and he brought my parents up, sayin’ some- some real bad shit, so I threw a punch. It hit him, too. Right in the face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It felt good to do, but afterwards I knew I effed up. There was just this… this smug look in that bastard’s eyes like he’d finally won despite being the one who got clocked. Next thing I knew my femur was broken and my entire life I’d planned ahead for was destroyed because of ‘self defense’. Runnin’ was all I got, that was my chance to get into college and help my mom out after all she’s done for me. Didn’t do physical therapy and the team hated me after that ‘cause I got track disbanded with the incident. Gossip got around school and everyone knew what a screw-up I was. Used to be called the track traitor ‘cause of it and my old teammates occasionally cornered me for a fight. It’s died down though, Ren helped me reconcile with the team and the regular students have moved on for the most part. They still hate me ‘course, but it’s nothin’ new with my reputation being a delinquent and all. Wow, I’m ramblin’,'' Ryuji awkwardly shifted. “Sorry, ya gotta tell me to stop when I do that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I was listening. It’s just- I’m pretty sure this isn’t on record as part of Kamoshida’s confession, as far as I know. Could’ve been hidden in the files where I didn’t see it. It wasn’t said during his confession at the assembly, was it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, just talked ‘bout Shiho, Ann, and the general abuse of students. Not like it matters anymore, he’s already locked up and everyone’d still have the same opinion of me. My leg ‘n reputation wouldn’t change ‘cause he admitted to breakin’ it. ‘S okay though, at least now I can change things for other people in similar trouble, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The grip on his hand released some of its previous tension, which is when Ryuji processed they’d been practically</span>
  <em>
    <span> holding hands</span>
  </em>
  <span> on the table the entire time. His hand, littered with scrapes and non-Featherman bandaids, resting underneath the warm hold of Akechi’s own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His face immediately flushed and he instinctively yanked his body backwards, jolting the booth. At this action, Akechi seemed to notice what Ryuji realized moments before, the only giveaway of embarrassment  being the surprised look he wore and the </span>
  <em>
    <span>smallest</span>
  </em>
  <span> hint of color painted on his face. It was only when Ryuji tucked his hands away, disregarding the lingering warmth fading from his hand, that he came to another realization in his mind, one that he tried again to ignore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He liked it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He liked holding hands with Akechi. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t realize they were doing it earlier - because it felt so normal and heartwarming, especially during a more sensitive conversation. He liked being held by him, being taken care of by him, comforted like he mattered, even if it was only just as friends. Even under those sleek black leather gloves, he craved the touch. The question was, was this just his body being attention starved as per usual, or did the individual matter?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt the same way with Ren, but who’s to say he wasn’t going to be distanced again for someone better? Is that why he’s been getting so attached to them both? Was he so frightened and desperate?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was forced out of spiraling contemplation when their food swiftly arrived. They both ate in relative quiet for a while since they were both busy scarfing down food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shit,” Ryuji nearly choked on his last bite of sando, managing to swallow it with a sip of his soda and thoroughly startling Akechi. “I just realized I don’t have my wallet,” he gasped. “Didn’t really bother to bring it with me for the heist yesterday. D’ya think you can cover for me? I’ll pay you back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“With that reaction I thought you were dying; that’s it?” Akechi sighed. “Yeah I’ll pay, don’t worry about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, were you hopin’ I was dying? How mean,” Ryuji huffed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’d just start more problems than it’d solve, trust me, I’d never dream of it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akechi paid for the food and both boys left the cozy diner to casually stroll through central street, no certain destination in mind. Ryuji’s leg was still a little achy, but he’d come to deal with that over the past year. Despite the soreness, he liked to stay moving. Those weeks he spent cooped up in bed when first recovering only made him more miserable. It was just a little more irritating than normal since there had indeed been a big, splotchy bruise marking his thigh that morning when he checked. Even the fabric of his jeans making contact with the spot caused discomfort in each movement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They passed through the bustling crowds until eventually making their way into the station square to people-watch. It was packed as usual, but now everyone was loaded up with Christmas shopping with the holiday only a few more days away. A lady accidentally bumped her heavy shopping bag against his bruised thigh when she was presumably rushing to catch a train, hastily apologizing as she continued moving. Ryuji concealed an instinctive hiss at the contact, instead opting to clench his teeth and move further towards the edge of the busy center, sitting on one of the half-walls surrounding the greenery.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Truthfully, he’d kinda lost track of the calendar from all the recent activities of the Phantom Thieves. They had two huge infiltrations back to back, deaths to fake, law enforcement to avoid, mysteries to be solved, plenty of Mementos requests coming in, even Mishima swept in and tried his best to lighten the load at the expense of sleeping, not to mention keeping up in school, so there was a lot to be preoccupied with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You doin’ anything for Christmas?” Ryuji found himself asking. He in particular didn’t usually do anything tremendously special, with the only person in his life who he’d spend the holidays with constantly working so she could support the two. His mom was also known to take on more shifts during the festivities to afford a few thoughtful gifts even if she sacrificed a much needed break.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, not really. It’d be a little weird for a dead man to celebrate. And I’ve never done anything in previous years either since it’s usually promoted as a holiday to spend with loved ones, so…” he trailed off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The silence that followed was telling. Even if Ryuji at the very least has his own loving mother, Akechi didn’t really have anyone. The mood dropped, the unrelenting winter breeze feeling chillier all of a sudden.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A lonely life without his mom would’ve been hellish, just imagining what’d happen during the peak of Kamoshida’s abuse was enough for anxiety to well up in his chest. Ryuji was only where he was now because of his mom and Ren. There were plenty of other directions life could’ve taken him, most ending badly. Unfortunately, Akechi probably didn’t have a lot to choose from when the time came for a chance at vengeance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah, I didn’t think of that...,” Ryuji murmured, grimacing at how insensitive he might’ve sounded. “Sorry for bringin’ up a sore subject. If it helps, I’m alone a lot too, even if I try not to be. C’mon, why don’tcha hang out with me then? Like, for Christmas an’ shit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re getting rather bold,” Akechi teased. Ryuji flicked his forehead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not like that! You know what I meant, asshole! Plate- platatonic- plankton- plat- whatever that word is!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Platonically.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, it’s you, Sakamoto,” a warm, familiar voice greeted. “It’s nice to see you again, how’ve you been?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They both turned towards the source of the voice, Akechi reflexively tensing up and taking on a defensive stance. He stepped just the slightest bit in front of Ryuji, who simply tilted his head in curiosity; almost like a dog.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A man with shaggy brown hair, kind eyes, glasses, and a sparse goatee approached the two, waving a hand in greeting. Ryuji didn’t immediately register the man’s voice since he’d left Shujin in October, so it was a surprise running into him again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh? Doc? Whatcha doin’ here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maruki chuckled. “I live here too, you know. Just because I left Shujin doesn’t mean I left the whole city. I take it this is a friend of yours?” he gestured towards Akechi, who was now cautiously standing down once he realized Maruki wasn’t there to be hostile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you could say that,” he playfully nudged the boy in question. “We just went out to lunch, actually.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That sounds nice, it looks like you had a good time. Oh- Wait a minute,” Maruki cut himself off, gaze fixating on the brunette with curiosity. “You’re Goro Akechi, aren’t you? Like, the second coming of the Detective Prince?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...That’s right,” Akechi nodded hesitantly in confirmation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I almost didn’t recognize you! No wonder you looked so familiar. It’s been a while since you’ve made any appearances, hasn’t it? Not to mention how striking of a difference civilian attire can make. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Takuto Maruki, I was the counselor for Shujin Academy for the months following the change of heart incident. I must say, Sakamoto, I’m surprised you didn’t mention this during our session.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To be fair, we weren’t really on great terms. He’s actually pretty cool, though,” Ryuji grinned and rested his elbow on Akechi’s shoulder. It looked a little awkward since he was shorter than him, but he didn’t seem to mind. Either that or he was too focused on quietly studying Maruki.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see. I’m glad you two reconciled. As cheesy as it sounds, relationships of any sort are important for personal growth. Of course they leave the biggest impact when heartbreak and tragedy strikes, but that shouldn’t be a problem for a long, long while,” Maruki assured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’d think so,” Akechi muttered under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My apologies, I guess I’ve gotten a bit distracted. I’m supposed to be somewhere, believe it or not. Sometimes I forget I’m not working and go on tangents.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, you’re fine,” Ryuji shrugged. “Was cool to see ya again, you were a good excuse to ditch class. Don’t be late!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maruki nodded and left towards one of the various station platforms, disappearing around the corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Man that was lucky,” the blonde slumped and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m so glad it was him, ‘m not in the mood to run for once.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mhm,” Akechi thoughtfully hummed his agreement, gazing at the various people passing by. “I suppose it's already a risk being outside like this even if Amamiya and the rest are at LeBlanc. That reminds me... I can’t go to LeBlanc for coffee anymore. That’s a shame.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can find you another café to chill at if ya want. Can’t promise it’ll be as good though, Boss and Ren are pretty freakin’ amazing baristas,” Ryuji smiled half-heartedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you even drink coffee?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I- uh… no. Actually maybe if I add a shit ton of sugar, but… eh, it’s more for you than me,” he shrugged. “Everyone needs a little hideaway shop to chill at when everywhere else is too overwhelming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then what’s yours?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll bring you next time, it’s a really good ramen shop in Ogikubo. Oh oh! Then on New Years, we should go to the shrine and make wishes for a less shitty year, the gods might pay attention if there are two of us!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think?” Akechi was never one to partake in traditions or shrine visits very often.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope! But I’m still invitin’ you anyways,” Ryuji grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, well if that’s the case, I suppose I don’t have a choice then,” Akechi mused. In truth, he just found that he couldn’t say no to that pure, hopeful smile; an insatiable desire to protect it at all costs.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This could be a problem.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello there, Mystic Messenger reference.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m just writing this to appease my RyuGoro soul, no clue when/if regular updates will come out, nor the exact details of the story yet. This is just a fun little passion project. I don’t really expect people to read this, but if you’re a fellow rare-pair RyuGoro lover, I commend you. This’ll probably (maybe?) get darker since I cannot hold back the extreme amounts of angst/violence/etc. but until then, it’s whatever. Again, I have no clue what I’m doing. Just going with the flow.</p><p>I’ll mark major Royal spoilers if I ever delve into that territory, but for now, it’s fine.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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